RWBY's ARK
by Shadlos
Summary: Crossover a year in progress, and still WIP by myself and my friend Jack Frost, exploring the possibilities and scenarios Team RWBY might go through if they arrived on the ARK. RWBY finds themselves waking up in a strange and deadly world...once again, vicious creatures stalk the land, thirsty for blood. It will take all of their determination and training to survive...
1. Prolog

Aaahh...I was loving this dream. After a hard day of work at school and life in general...it felt good to be back in my dorm with the others, sleeping contently. This dream itself...i was lying alone on a beach, all to myself, relaxing. I deserved something like this. I laid stretched out on my back on a towel, sunbathing happily with my eyes closed. I stretched, something quite simple, stretching my arms above the top of my towel, giving a contented yawn. As I began to move my arms behind my head, the top of my left hand touches the surface of the sand...and I...seem to feel it. This sensation wakes me, but I still have my eyes closed. From behind my eyelids, I can...see a bright light? I shouldn't with the canopy over my bed...I work up the nerve to bother opening my eyelids...and the light that floods my eyes catches my eyes of guard, blinding me. I raise my hands naturally in defense of the blinding light...it...it's a rising sun? And a sky? A clear, cloudless sky. H...I actually feel sand under my back? My vision begins to clear, and I see my bare arm...bare? I turn my left arm around, so I can see it's underside, and...there's some sort of thing attached to my arm! This immediately wakes me fully. Suddenly I look at myself...! I have no clothes, only underclothing?! And I'm on some sort of a beach?! Immediately, I scream. I hear commotion beside me...it's Weiss, Blake, and Yang! My screams have suddenly woken them up. In the chaos, they see themselves, they see me...the result is several moments of panic and screaming, before suddenly we hear a shrill whistle. It's from Yang, who has the thumb and index finger of her right hand in her mouth. "CHILL OUT!" my sister hollers loudly. "Chill out?! CHILL OUT!?" Weiss snaps hastily. "WHERE ARE WE?!" I'm just as panicked as Weiss is, and I can tell Yang's concerned, but she's holding this well- So is Blake. I still see the looks of worry on their faces, though. I'm shaking, before I begin to cry like some sort of little girl. Immediately, Yang sees this and quickly holds me in her arms. "Hey, hey!" she tries to reassure me. "C'mon now! Enough of that! We can't have our team leader crying now, can we?" I wipe the tears currently on my face and sniffle. "But...wh...where are we?...what's happened?!"

"This...this can't be anything Torchwick or any of them could have done, right?" Weiss replies. "I...i know we were getting close, but-"

"It's not Torchwick. Nor Cinder, or anybody like that." Blake says calmly. "How do you know?" Weiss asks. We look, seeing Blake staring at the device on her arm. She stares right at it. "What?..." I ask. "What can you make of these things?" I say, looking at my own. Yang and Weiss are doing similarly. "Look." Blake says, then pointing further into the island. From the beach there is a small hill, open sand-and-grass plains in the middle, and forest on either side. Just above the tip of the hill, is the top of a large, metal building. It has a diamond-shaped part to it, glowing red...that one part...it looks similar to the strange things attached to our arms. Weiss pauses, before speaking "S...should we try and remove these?" she says. "wait...isn't that a dumb-"

"no." Blake says. She's been scratching at hers slowly. "It's not just skin-deep, so it seems...it looks like...an implant of sorts...and I have a feeling that trying to remove it is a bad idea."

"Well then, what do you think this is?" I ask. Blake slowly rises. "I don't know...but some science fiction books I've read come to mind." she stares dead at the tower's tip. "But I feel that may have some sort of...explanation." It becomes clear, our goal is to get to that tower. We begin heading up the hill as a group. Surprisingly, Weiss is fairly quick up the hill, and gets to the top far before we can. She freezes solid, suddenly, when at the top. "Weiss!" I call. "What do you see?"

….she gives no response. "Weiss! Weiss!" I call again. "What is it?!". I'm the first to get up to her. She's staring dead at something with a...near indescribable look of awe. "Weiss!" I say grabbing her shoulder, looking at her. "What is i-"

A sound catches me off-guard. A close, booming sound. Blake and Yang have now caught up...and they see what Weiss sees. I turn...and...there it is.

It's walking towards the forest edge on the right. It's huge. Four legs as big and thick as trees themselves, a long neck and tail...nobody says anything for a moment. Yang finally breaks the silence. "I...is that...a dinosaur?..."

Unmistakable. It is! It is! For a moment, all of my curiosity is gone. I run right up to it. "Ruby! Wait!" Yang calls, but I'm already halfway to the giant creature. I smile, looking directly up at it. It's like it completely ignores me. For once, something living that's bigger than me isn't scaring me. The others seem to follow me. I look at the tree the dinosaur is eating from, it's a fairly tall one, too. I decide...well, that it's time to get a vantage point. I begin frantically climbing the nearby tree, and my team scurries up after me. I get pretty high up the tree...I must be more than 100 feet up. The others finally catch up. Weiss is huffing. I guess she hasn't climbed many trees. "What's the big deal?!" she asks. She can see why now. From the shaded vantage point of the tree, we see it...right over the top of the crest of the hill...we're on an island, that's only part of a much more massive island. Across a large, natural canal that runs between our island and the much larger one, there's that red tower...or not. It's a massive, metal obelisk of sorts...floating in the air. From it's center, it emits a red beam of light that emits down onto the ground, at a focal point. Around it, water from the canal and nearby ocean flow around it, creating a small caldera or moat around the obelisk...and there isn't one. There's three. To the very far east, I can faintly make out a green one. To the north, atop an incredibly distant snow-covered mountain...i can see what seems like a blue one. There are pillars of light that aren't these structures coming down in several locations. I can't tell what these are...and there...there are things flying in the sky, prehistoric things. In the nearby forest, I can see the heads of other long-necked dinosaurs. All of us are staring at this sight before us. This time, it's my scared voice that breaks the silence. "G...guys...i don't think we're in Remnant anymore..."

Shadlos Presents...

With assistance from Jack Frost

A fan-fiction work.

RWBY's .A.R.K.


	2. Chapter 1

There we are, all four of us staring off into oblivion at what we see...I don't know what I'm feeling right now other than shock. A bunch of things are hitting me all at once...and I guess it all can be summarized as "shock", as well. Suddenly, I hear Weiss's voice in a panicked tone. "Hah, OK, OK..." she's slowly grabbing her head. "this...this...this is all a dream...just a dream...a really weird, really bad dream...I'll wake up sooner or later to somebody's alarm clock or Ruby's shrill voice-"

"My shrill voice?" I whine. "Ey, you're not real. You can't be. I can say what I want. This is some sort of stupid dream. None of this is real, right? I mean, it's obviously not real. I'll wake up fine, back to normal school, stupid history lessons, dumb other classes, and all kinds of other usual things. There's no way at all any of this is real in the sli-"

What stops her sentence cold...catches Blake and myself off guard. Yang straight-out smacks Weiss across the face. It's not a hard slap, more like a "let me show you you're not dreaming" slap. Weiss pauses a moment, looking at Yang with a shocked look at disbelief. My sister smiles. "Feel that? I don't think you're dreaming". Weiss...she lets out a loud, decently-lengthed scream. "Don't EVER hit me again!" she screeches at the end. Yang shrugs. "Hey, you were having a nervous breakdown. Somebody needed to both show you this is real, and bring you to your senses. Wherever we are, we can't be loosing our sanity if we want to survive, right?". Weiss takes a moment to cool down with a huff. "...Just...don't...hit me again. EVER".

As I look at Blake, I can tell I'm not the only one amused by what just happened. It's at this moment the dinosaur from earlier starts eating from the branches near us. It's head is fairly big compared to us. It sees us...but seems completely oblivious to us. It just keeps eating from the treetops, ignoring us entirely. I take a minute to admire it, before I look and see the others already climbing down. I quickly follow them down, and we move to the other side of the clearing, in a large patch of bushes beside the other forest's edge. Blake slumps to the bottom of another tree and begins looking at the device in her arm. We all sit down and do similarly, staring at them. I finally decide to touch mine. I slowly raise my right hand, ready my index finger, and give it a slow, careful poke. The minute I do, it suddenly emits light, to my shock. It emits a screen of light to me, showing myself as some sort of hologram standing in the center, apparent "slots" for clothing...stat values...and an entire section left devoted to anything I have in my inventory. The others soon look over my shoulder. There's one item in my "inventory". It's called a "specimen implant". I...take a moment to poke it on the screen. A box with text appears next to it.

 **Specimen Number: #4230952358**

 **Species: Homo Sapiens**

 **Vernacular ID: "Ruby"**

 **Gender: Female**

 **Characteristics: Dexterity, Adaptability, Intelligence, Resourceful, Unique Undocumented Adaptation.**

 **Survival Quotient: TO BE DETERMINED**

I don't know what to think of this...but Blake apparently does. I hear her make some sort of intrigued noise. She activates her own implant, reading her own specimen ID's description. I stand so I can read it as she and the others do.

 **Specimen Number: #4230952360**

 **Species: "Faunus" (Vernacular identification, species to be phylogenized)**

 **Vernacular ID: "Blake"**

 **Gender: Female**

 **Characteristics: Dexterity, Adaptability, Intelligence, Resourceful, Feline-like Characteristics, Heightened Senses, Unique Undocumented Adaptation.**

 **Survival Quotient: TO BE DETERMINED**

Blake asks Weiss and Yang to check their own implants, and tell her what their numbers are, and see if they also have "Unique Undocumented Adaptation" in their characteristics section. They both check their own implants. Their numbers are #4230952359 and #4230952361 respectfully. Once again, their implants state "Unique Undocumented Adaptation". Blake closes hers by touching it again on her arm, before walking in thought over to the tree she sat at and sits down. We close our own. "What's up, Blake?" I ask. "...I think I got what's going on here." Blake says. "From the few science fiction novels I've read, I at least think I...could come up with a possible scenario for our situation."

"What is it then?" Weiss asks. "...heh, this will be hard to believe, but...i guess at the same time, it's not." Blake says looking to the side for a moment. Yang looks around, doing some sort of grand shrugging gesture as she does so. "Well, I'd say anything is possible. What are you thinking?" Blake looks back at us. "Aliens". She replies. "...Aliens?" Weiss, Yang, and I say in unison. Blake looks off for a moment as she speaks, as if envisioning the whole process. "Yes, Aliens. I...suppose we're on some sort of ecology preserve. Sort of like a zoo, but not exactly...this is a place where species are stored to be allowed to survive. And...i guess not just normal creatures. Creatures throughout earth's past that were favored in the eyes of these Aliens, or higher powers, and brought to this place, so that they can continue to evolve and prosper...but here's the catch. It's a bunch of favored or worthy species living on the same island. It's also a test to see which of these "favored" species can survive and adapt best, and if they can form their own "favored ecosystem". I...presume there might be creatures from all over Remnant's past here."

"Do you think there are Grimm here?" I ask. Blake shakes her head, still looking away. "For some reason, I don't think so. But other things most definitely are...but think. Then, as the higher race watches on, we come on to the scene...mankind, and Faunus alike. The two of us rise above all other creatures on Remnant...and the Aliens, the higher race, takes notice. So they take a few humans to this reserve, to see what happens. To take part in the ultimate fight for survival. To either prosper and live...or die horribly trying."

The three of us our silent. As preposterous as it sounds...it's probably...it's probably the answer. I slump to the ground. "So...so we're on a strange island, on an alien world, all to be at the whim of some sort of higher race?..." Blake looks back at me, and nods slowly. "I'm sorry, but it all makes sense, doesn't it?"

I give a hard swallow, and try to hold back tears. "It does...it...it's just...we're not going to go back anytime soon in your story, if at all, are we?..." Blake doesn't answer me. "I mean...I'm already starting to miss home...our dorms...Beacon...Vale...Jeanne and JNPR...even Ozpin and Goodwitch...everybody and everything...but...I guess that's me still being childish. Heh heh..." Yang puts her hand on my shoulder, crouching next to me. "No, not at all...I miss everything too...even my...stupid bike". Weiss is level with me too now. "...I actually miss my family, too" she says. "As...stupid as we all are. The company...my family...I'm with you on that."

"I am too." Blake says. "But...I know we can't let that hold us back. We've got to get with the program. If we don't get on our own feet...we'll be the ones going extinct."

I...I'm filled with resolve, then. I feel my team leader personality kicking back in. "...alright. Blake, from what I can guess, when the implant's talking about "Unique undocumented adaptations", it's referring to our semblances and auras, right?"

"As far as I can tell."

"So we've still got that on our side. That's a huge advantage over everything else on the island! We can do this!" the others smile, and seem to also become resolved. I clench my fist, a plan already forming. "Alright. Blake, see if you can find anything else out using that implant of yours, alright?"

"I was thinking the same thought. I'll get right to it."

"Great. Weiss, Yang? I think we should start gathering a few things from the immediate vicinity...especially things for the clothing department."

"I...greatly second that." Weiss says, looking at herself and the rest of us. Yang smiles "What's that I hear? Being bashful for some reason? It's just like going to the beach, you know."

"I...never went to the beach...or ever went swimming." Weiss replies.

"...you really did live a sad life."

"Hey hey! Let's pick on each other later!" I say. They agree. With that, Blake opens up her implant again and begins to try and see if it's got any other information. We begin gathering from the immediate vicinity. From the bushes I find a variety of things. Different berries, for starters. There are yellow ones, white ones, purple ones, red ones, black ones, and blue ones. I also snip off some plant fibers. Maybe they can be woven? Weiss is also picking a few things from bushes, but also begins picking some choice stones from the ground. Yang does similarly, before turning to a nearby palm tree, around 12 ft tall. She walks up to it and, after a short pause, punches it once, hard. Must have hurt herself with that, as I see her flinch after doing so. The tree falls easily. I guess that's one way of getting wood. After around ten minutes, Yang's punched down about five palm trees and gathered the wood from them. Weiss and I have a variety of materials, about as much as we can carry. We all settle down near Blake, putting our stuff on the ground. "so..." Yang says as she sets her wood down. "Did you find out anything else?"

"Where to start..." Blake says, with a bit of a light tone. "First off, maybe bring up your own so you can see what I'm talking about". We do so. "The place for items on the left...i found out it's actually sort of a storage unit in and of itself. Now, I know each of us varies in strength of how much we could carry, but I assume your "weight" value maximum is still 100, yes?" we nod. "right. From what I can see, this also works as hands-free storage, but it still adds that weight to our own person, so we still feel it. I don't know how...but I was experimenting with a few berries here." She's got a stack of red berries taking up a tile space on her inventory screen. "Apparently...if I just want to put it in to my screen here, I...just sort of...well, want it to go there, and it does. And then, if I want one..." she focuses a second on her screen for a second, and then, a few purple berries, seven in total, are in her free hand. All seven she had, now out of her inventory, in her hand. She pops one in her mouth. "So that's how that works...strangely."

"So it's more than just a specimen implant." I note. "It's an actual tool for us, as well."

"Yes, so it seems." Blake replies. "Now, about the berries themselves...each one of them is fine, and fairly tasty...save for two of them. White ones are bitter, and give you a bit extra energy, staving off exhaustion, but they dehydrate you...the "Stimberries". The black ones...they're "Narcoberries". As the name suggests, they make you sleepy if you eat them...i feel as if, though, they might have another use. Then above the item slots, to the top...see that tab that says 'engrams'?...apparently it's just basic blueprints of things we know how to do." I touch it. For some reason...i feel like I can make a torch and stone pickax...and apparently I can, and knew how to this whole time. "So...so I see." I say. "But...why are there plus icons near my stats?..."

"Oh, I assume it's leveling." Blake says. "Apparently, rewards for work and experience. I've apparently been gaining passive experience while sitting here...i can level a few times myself. You upgrade your stats, one upgrade per level, to your content. With each level, you also gain engram points to unlock towards new engrams...learn new things. Try it out."

I examine my stats. I...well, I'm already fast, so no need to up my speed...stamina maybe...hmm...I decide health, just perhaps to see if I can survive longer. I go up from 100 to 110, and I feel a slight bit of pain...I can still level two more times, I then up my carry capacity and stamina. Weiss puts hers into balanced as well: health, stamina, and weight. Yang puts two into melee damage and the last into health, while Blake follows Weiss and my example. Then, I suddenly see a screen with all these "engrams" which I can learn and re-learn...apparently I forgot to do a lot. "Hey." I say. "I don't think immediately all of us need to learn how to everything...why don't some of us learn certain things for the benefit of the others? Get where I'm coming from?"

"Smart of ya, little sis." Yang says, slapping me on the back once a little hard.. "I...i guess I'll play mommy real quick and learn how to make shirts and pants for everybody...Making a hatchet sounds nice as well..."

"I can take spears and campfire, and learn how to make...a slingshot. I guess that can come in handy."

Weiss says. Blake nods. "Guess I'll do the thatch building materials...What about you, Ruby?"

"Well..." I say. "that...just leaves me with a mortar and pestle...narcotic...and sparkpowder, I guess. Whatever sparkpowder is..." Upon activating those...i actually feel something in my head. I can actually feel myself instantly learning how to do these things the minute I activate them. We soon get to work. I quickly make a pair of pickaxes for Blake and myself- I'm surprised I could actually do that- and then the two of us begin to hack away at a few nearby large rocks. Weiss and Yang wait for us to get flint, and Yang starts using the gathered fibers to make cloth clothing. Weiss, with nothing to do, watches Yang...Blake and I have gotten a few stones and flint from our first rock. I hit it one time...and to our shock, the rock completely shatters! Nobody's hurt, and the pieces seem to disappear... "Well, guess you're almost as strong as me after all, sis!" Yang says smiling. "I...I have a strange feeling rocks work like that here." I say with a pause, before Blake and I bring over the materials that we got from the first rock. Weiss...actually started making a pair of cloth pants! "Hey, you didn't have the points for that, did you?..."

"Nope. But, while I was watching Yang...i decided to learn. Sure enough, I felt something weird, checked my engrams and...i learned how to make cloth clothes."

"If we can get around the point system like that, then I think we're set." I say confidently. We continue working, gaining a few levels as we go. Around an hour later, each one of us is dressed, but still barefoot, with a few spears, a pickax, and hatchet per person. We take a moment, after our hard work, and begin to make "breakfast" of the berries we've gathered. I almost forget not to eat the white ones. We begin some idle chat, about a few things. Yang's going on with Weiss about something that apparently happened back in Weiss's childhood, and I watch on, smiling, popping a "azulberry" into my mouth. I then hear something behind me. It sounds...like tiny footsteps. I turn, looking behind me...only to see an adorable little dinosaur. It's tiny, around a foot long and a foot tall, two feathers on it's head, two-legged, with green scales, and big eyes. I immediately make an awww of delight, which gets the attention of the others. They soon gather around me to look at our adorable little visitor, who looks up at us with curiosity, making a few adorable chirps and sounds every once and a while. "Hey, I do remember something looking into the implant told me." Blake says "If you focus enough, you can see what kind of creature you're dealing with, as well as it's own level". I do so, and can sort of tell...well, I guess "tell", but seem to know, only by looking a this creature "Wild Male Compy- LV 2". "He's an adorable little thing, isn't he?" I say. "He's soo cute!" Weiss squeals in agreement. "It looks like the perfect pet!"

"Tiny, cute, cool looking...and not a dog, right Blake?" Yang says. Blake cuts Yang a look, but it it's more like an "oh you" kind of look. "Say hey..." I ponder aloud. "I wonder if he's hungry...". I take out a Mejoberry and hold it out to him. He sniffs it, but doesn't seem interested. "What?" I say in a baby-ish voice. "Wou don't wike the poiple ones? Or do wou not wike bewwies?"

"Looks like a little meatavore" Yang says, seeing the thing's small, fairly sharp teeth. "He must run around and eat bugs and that stuff."

"Aww. Well, at least he's a perfect wittle visitor, right?" I say. The others easily agree with me. The little "Compy"makes a noise, looking behind itself a second, before fixing it's gaze back up at us. We continue to gawk at the little guy a few more seconds, before we hear something else. A blue one suddenly trots up next to it, staring at us with it's green friend. "Aww! Wou have a fwiend, don't wou?" I say. The others are just as enamored, when the little guy makes a slight chirp, opening his mouth a little wider than usual. The other does something similar. Then we note a tan-one showing up...it's when we notice him...we...see about thirty more of them. There's more than thirty of these "Compys" in front of us...and...our enamorment has fled. They're all staring straight at us. I look at the first one, and then suddenly, it leaps up, and latches it's mouth onto the bridge of my nose! I quickly fall back onto my rear and start kicking in self defense at the others as I grab the one on my face. Weiss, Blake, and Yang are already trying to kick the little buggers away, when I finally rip the green one from my nose, throw him into oblivion, get up...and we all bolt, the horde of Compys in hot pursuit. We run, but I don't go so fast as to leave my friends in the dust. As we run up the large, not-so-steep slope of the hill, there's a rock in our way. I'm the first to come to it, and I try to jump it, but I jump early, and the top of the rock catches my bare foot, and I fly over it. Just as I hit the ground; I do a forwards roll from the momentum and pop back up on my feet, and keep going. The others avoid it easily...but it's not a rock! It's apparently a tortoise, as big as a car! As it pops out of it's shell confused, Yang is the last to pass it. A compy tries to nip at her heel, but ends up hitting the turtle's leg instead. The turtle actually lashes out, biting the compy. The whole horde now starts attacking the turtle instead of us, as we run away.

We finally get to the top of the hill, and Weiss and I collapse. Weiss onto her knees, and myself onto all fours. We're all panting, not exactly out of exhaustion, but rather, out of shock. "Note...to...self..." I say between breaths. "Cute things...not so cute...on island". I then collapse face-first into the ground. "Hey! Hey Ruby!" Yang says, shaking my back. "Sis! How's your nose?" I then remember. I sit up, and touch the bridge of my nose...no blood, or scar. I'm healed...but I'm hungry. I snack on the last of my berries as I tell Yang I'm fine, to her and the others' relief. As I munch away on the berries...i note...off to the left, an absolutely massive rock, that might as well be considered a mini-mountain. I stand, spear-in-hand, and begin to head that way, leading the others. As we come to a side of the rock, we see a large, flat space...we're at the top of a cliff! On this flat side, there's a patch of trees and bushes separate to themselves, then further down, a small forest that begins and loops around the other side of the rock. I peer over the cliff face. Below, on one side, the overlook of a series of small coastal rivers, with no forest, only some greenery and beaches. The other, giving way to a majestic, but intimidating, ocean. I then suddenly get an idea. "Hey!" I say. "What if we set up here?"

"Here?..." Weiss asks. "Yeah!" I reply. "It's nice and flat here, with a LOT of space...and if we do things right, maybe we can take out all the forest back there for wood and building space, but leave that patch right there for harvesting materials?"

"That...could actually work!" Weiss says, and the others are also giving looks approval. "And...it is a cool location up here..." she says, walking from the dirt onto the stone of the flat edge of the clifftop. "Plus this view...it's good, and I bet the sunsets are nice."

"Now you're thinkin', you two!" Yang says. "So we should set up shelter here?"

"Well...I think we will learn how to make wooden things eventually." I say. "As in walls and floors. That's what we'll want to make our real house out of. But for now?...we've got thatch, so let's just build a little thing where we can take cover from the elements and sleep, as well as store things. That way, when we get an actual establishment up, we can re-cycle the thatch structure into a shed or something!"

"That's a clever idea, Ruby." Blake says, agreeing with and complementing me. "If we can ever build up walls...we could set up walls up near the front of the rock, then another back behind it, with the rock and cliff being natural walls themselves."

"So..." Weiss said. "How...how sturdy do you think Thatch is?..."

"Well...only one way to find out." I said. With that, we begin going into the smaller forest and chopping down materials. We begin to learn from Blake as she assembles foundations. We help her do that, then set up walls. Then a door frame, a door, and sloped roofs. During all this work, we level a few more times. We put in two large storage boxes we make, then set on the floor, a small mortar and pestle that I managed to put together, strangely, without hide. Now done, we stepped back and admired our work. It...well, was a thatch house. Not too impressive at first glance...but to us, it was all we needed for now. Feeling accomplished, we headed inside, and looked around. It was a small space, around a little more than half the size of our dormitory back at Beacon. "Hmm..." I said. "Not too cozy, but I think it will do".

"Not too cozy? I'm at home already!" Yang said taking a few steps, spinning once, and plopping onto the floor. "Yeah, it's tiny, but we actually have a little shack to call home! There's nothing better then four good walls and a roof over your head, am I right?"

"I...i guess you're right. The basic necessities..." Weiss says. It's just then we hear a clap of thunder. Blake looks out the door. "...yeah, that's a storm coming." she says. We've just now noticed the noon-time storm that has snuck up on us. The sky is dark in part, as storm clouds roll our way. We built a firepit out front, but we're not taking one inside...it'll be cold inside when the storm hits. Cold and dark. We all know it. Suddenly, something else catches Blake's attention...we see it too. Atop the rock, a white column of light has begun to shine, and something is descending within it. "Hey,what's that?" I ask. Blake quickly checks her specimen implant, looking for something. She then finds what she's looking for. "They're called Beacons apparently...! They're supply drops-!" the latter part of her sentence is hurried as she realizes this, and she bolts out the door. We bolt out after her. Using our Aura, we jump up to a part of the rock, where we can then run up to the beacon from natural ramps in the rock itself. Descending is a diamond-shaped object surrounded by four rotating panels, as it slowly descends in a pillar of light. "Some are level-exclusive...you know, have to be certain levels to open them, apparently..." from what she reads in her implant. The others and I are desperately trying to figure out how to open it. Yang is about to tear the thing apart when an idea hits me. "YANG WAIT" I say, just as it looks like she's about to tear off a panel. I look at it, then open up my specimen implant. Instead of myself, I see the contents of the supply drop. "I see what it's got!" I say. They rush over to me. It's got a few things of hide, some wood, sparkpowder, and some...spoiled meat?...OK then. Then we see something definitely worthwhile. It's a standing oil lamp, on a tall, black, metal, curved pole. The lamp itself is made of clear glass. There's also oil for it to use. I immediately tap the button I see that says "take all from inventory". Just as everything is suddenly in my inventory, the light disappears and the beacon falls into shards before dissipating. Just as we note this, there's another, louder boom of thunder, as rain begins to fall. We quickly dash inside our little house just in time, shutting and "locking" the door behind us as we do so.

The house is much sturdier and warmer than we thought it would originally be. We don't feel the rain a all, but we feel the cold a little. I quickly try to figure out what to do about that lamp. I pull up my inventory, and select it. Suddenly, it's there, in front of me, standing. I put it in a good location, with it's back against the wall, the lamp itself hanging away from it. We put some oil in...but now, how to light it? Weiss comes up with an idea. She takes a individual piece of thatch from our storage, and two pieces of flint. She then asks for Yang's assistance in lighting the thatch. It's risky, and it's getting damp. The first few clicks, and we're worrying about the stray sparks. Blake and I stamp out with our bare feet any that touch the floor and don't disintegrate. Finally, the tip of the thatch Weiss holds catches aflame. She walks over to the oil lamp and lights it. It lights up our whole thatch hut with it's soft, warm glow. We all smile, and look relieved at this while as Weiss blows out the thatch she used. We all sit on the ground, and eat a few more berries as Yang starts making boots and gloves of cloth for us using the hide pieces from the supply drop. "How long do you think the storm will last?" I ask. Blake shakes her head. "from the size of those clouds...I'd say we're stuck indoors for the rest of the day".

"Lovely..." Weiss said with a groan. I gave an optimistic smile. "Hey, maybe we can get some work done." I quickly check my engrams. "Hey. That's useful. I can learn how to make a bow and arrows now. How about you?"

They all check. They can do similarly. Upon that, we can learn "tranq arrows". Sedative arrows!? We're quick to jump on that. The rest of the day is filled with crafting our new gloves and shoes, then the long process of bows and arrows. I quickly catch on to making Narcotics using the mortar and pestle. That's what the spoiled meat was for. You use it with narcoberries to make narcotic. I manage to make several batches, and then coat a few arrows in them. The arrows turn green as they are coated. I make around 10 for each of us, and plenty of standard arrows to go around. The bows themselves are the most annoying part. We each took a painstaking amount of time to get the curvature of the wood just right...stringing the bows using fiber...the whole process, grueling, but worth it. I looked up. "hey." I said. "Do you think that maybe one day, we might be able to build our weapons?"

"Build our weapons?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah. You know, how I hand-built Crescent Rose? Maybe in the really distant future, we might be able to build versions of our old weapons."

"Knowing you, sis, that's definitely possible". My sister said, stringing her bow. Soon, we finished with the process. Bows...I've never used them, but they're definitely a preference over spears. "Masters of the bow have often made great conquerors..." Blake says, admiring her own work. "That, and as long as our arrows don't break, we can re-use our ammo."

"You don't say..." I reply, stringing my bow with an arrow, and pointing it at a nearby wall, being careful not to actually shoot. "Then I say we're on the right track to surviving on this island. Where do you suppose we are? You know, on the island? Think this place has a name?"

"There's a map in the implant". Blake says. "And it identifies this place as "Cragg's Island". We're south of the rest of the island...which is apparently called ARK."

"ARK?" Weiss asks.

"Apparently."

I smile. "Well then...it's our ARK now. We'll do more than just survive! We'll prosper and thrive!"

The others agree with me. We chat around a little more before dinner of more berries. Then, it's finally bedtime. Each one of us takes up a position around the house. I stand next to the lamp, and look around. Yang's sitting in a corner, back against the wall. She's definitely asleep. Weiss lies on her back on the floor, head atop a makeshift pillow of bundled thatch. Blake sleeps atop the large storage boxes we made, apparently that's where she felt like sleeping. Her left leg dangles off the side as she sleeps. I smile upon seeing this. Just earlier today we were panicking...and now look at us. We've built a house and are sleeping all in like...well, we own the place, sleeping wherever and however we want...and we do! This island...the "ARK"...it's ours now, and we'll master it for sure. I open up the top of the oil lamp, and blow out the light.


	3. Chapter 2

I slowly begin to awake after a dreamless sleep. I slept on the floor, on my face, surprisingly...and, I guess it will be as good as it gets until we...get a hold of ourselves. I slowly rise onto my knees and check my implant. It has a section for time, reading it off in digits in military time. It's 5:58. As I deactivate it, I hear the sound of an obvious snore coming from one of the others. I look, and it's not Yang. She's out cold, now having slumped onto the floor. Looking around, I can see it's coming from Weiss, who's torn her thatch pillow to shreds in her sleep...weird. I slowly and quietly get up, then lumber towards the door, unlock it, and silently step outside, closing the door behind me. Once outside, I stretch and give a higher-pitched, contented yawn as I do so. I scratch my left arm, looking around me, the sky still orange from the just-risen-over-the-ocean's horizon-sun. I then hear a little noise and look around...there are around twelve birds in the area, flightless ones, that have sort of just...wandered through. Just looking at them, I know what they are. Dodo birds. An idea comes to me, and I sneak back inside before coming back out, this time with some tools. The most important of which, my bow and arrows. I don't think they're too fast, and I shouldn't cause too much of a noise to wake the others. I raise my bow and pull an stone arrow from my quiver, loading the bow. These things...I know they're deadly if accurate. I've pulled off some shots with Crescent Rose before, but I don't exactly know if a sniper rifle's projectile statistics are the same as that of a bow and arrow...I start doing a little bit of mathematics in my head, just to get an idea of how the arrow might fly. I pick out my target, the closest Dodo, which is around 50 ft away, next to the firepit. It's rooting around on the ground for anything edible. I decide just to pull the string back, to feel the strength and feel of a loaded bow. I carefully aim my shot, getting a feel for the new weapon that is my lifeline. I've got the bird in my sights...I let the string go. There's a whiz in the air as the arrow flies towards it's target in seconds. There's a whack, a humorous yet pitiful noise, and the Dodo bird drops to the ground, dead. The other birds are completely oblivious. I smile in satisfaction. I walk up to my kill and take the arrow from it's head. Bloody, but still strong. I load it back into my bow for another shot. This time, I pick the farthest away bird, around 70 ft away, and decide to practice my quick draw, in the case of chaos of some sort. I quickly string the bloody arrow, raise my bow, and shoot at the target. WHACK! Another headshot, another dead dodo bird. I smile again, too excited and proud of myself. I bend down to the first Dodo I killed and pick it up by it's neck. Looks like a good amount of good meat. As I look at my first kill in my grasp, I hear applause coming from the shack. I turn to see Yang standing in the doorway, with Weiss and Blake behind her. "Nice shootin' sis!" my sister says stepping out the door. I Smile. "You guys saw all that?" I ask happily. Blake nods. "Yang woke us up when she saw you reading your first arrow. Personally, I like the idea of breakfast and target practice in one..."

"Yeah...i don't think we'll get this lucky again...so might as well use what we can when we get the opportunity, right?"

The others agree. They begin to take out the rest of the birds as I work up the nerve to start skinning my first two kills. I use the hatchet to first cut it's head off at the base of it's neck, then skin the bird's hide from the meat itself. I then use the sharper end of my pickax to tear off the usable chunks of meat. Weiss takes one out and brings it over, starting to skin her first kill. She's squeamish about it at first, but troops through it. I set up a few pieces of wood to suspend the meat on, and put my few pieces on top of it, before asking Weiss for help with the fire. It's a bit tricky at first, but then it catches on, and the meat starts cooking fairly quickly. I've never cooked meat before, so while the others finish skinning, my eyes are locked on the cooking meat. A few moments later, one piece looks like it's done, so I use my spear to gently skewer it, then take it off the fire. It's nice and brown, looking quite tasty. I tear a slight piece off and is the first of the group to try dodo bird meat as I pop it into my mouth. "...i like it!" I say with a contented smile, as I hold it up for the others to take a piece. "About as good and as close as it comes to chicken, I think." Yang says after chewing hers a bit, then swallowing. "Pity there isn't much good meat on them, though".

"As much as I don't like the idea of having to do this a lot..." Weiss says with her hand over her mouth, then swallowing her piece, before going to remove another piece of meat from the fire. "I...kinda also do like it."

"You like it, but you hate it?" Blake asks. "Well..." Weiss replies "For some reason...ya know, the...Schnee side of me hates having to do such...well, dirty work, but at the same time...there's that same part of me that always wanted bunk beds as a kid that's getting an adventurous, outdoorsy kick out of this".

"Heh heh, maybe you're not so boring after all". Yang teases. "Yet, as kinda cool as this is...and as much as an adventure as it probably will be, it's definitely not going to be all fun and games, frolicking with plant-eating dinos and eating fried dodo bird tenders. We've seen 'Compy's, A prehistoric turtle, Long-necks, pterodactyls soaring above...if we've got all of those on the island, what's the one dinosaur you think would HAVE to be here?"

"...velociraptor?" I ask, biting into a whole piece of meat wide-eyed. "Well, yes, Raptors..." Yang says "but...what about T-rex?"

I swallow my meat a little hard. "T...T-rex? I-I-I mean...we've got things technically worse than a t-rex back home that we've fought, but...ya know, if basically everything on the islands has 'evolved' ...then...it's not just a T-rex. It might...be an evolved one".

"Exactly! Who knows? He may not be the king of the dinosaurs anymore...but the GOD OF THE DINOSAURS!"

With that I shake my head. "Nice try, Yang. I think I'd actually have to see one before I actually get scared of it".

Yang smiles, popping meat into her mouth. "Thou shalt learn what to feareth soon enough..."

"You two cut it out!" Weiss says with a smile. We all laugh and continue eating and cooking breakfast. By the time the meat is done cooking, we have some left to spare, so each of us takes a few pieces for later. Remembering we can make a "Preserving Bin", we decide that the first order of business for the day is to hunt something large for more materials. We're short on hide for the preserving bin, and if we hunt something big, we'll have more meat to either spoil or cook. That said, we geared up and headed out into the fields once again. We headed back down the hill, towards where we first woke up yesterday. A few moments later, as we hiked down, we noticed...the turtle from yesterday, alive and fine!? It's got a couple nicks on it's feet and neck, but other than that, it's OK. Must have pulled into it's shell, and the compys lost interest I think to myself. We pass it by, leaving it to it's sunbathing, and continue. We get to our starting beach, and nothing's there. We talk about going back and hunting the turtle, but we decide that it had enough of a rough time, and leave it alone out of sympathy. We walk into the forest on the right, looking for anything worth hunting. We walk for another few minutes, sometimes talking to pass the time, but speaking in hushed tones, not to spook anything. Eventually we come to a clearing. There's a large herd of medium-sized dinosaurs browsing from the foliage. They've got crests on their heads, that go backwards and...kinda look like a trumpet to me. I can faintly make out names. "Parasaur", is what I'm getting from them at the moment. The four of us are crouching, and trying to figure out which target looks like the easiest one. Off to my right, I see a green-and-red one that looks like we can take down. "Alright". I whisper "I don't think it's going to go down in one shot, even to the head. I'll get close and give off the first shot. The herd SHOULD then scatter down that way" I say pointing to the left. "Weiss, hide down a few feet that way. If you pop out and start shooting as well, that should keep them heading the way we want. Blake, see if you can head down further, but get around the other side of them. Yang, you'll be farthest down. If we can't get at least our first one down, you'll be our last shot."

"Gotcha sis". Yang says winking, and holding her bow firmly. Each one of us begins to slowly creep into position. I manage to get into my position near our target first. I can see Weiss now ready, and she gives me a quick nod, slowly drawing a bow from the quiver on her back. Looking far down a ways, It takes a moment, but then I can finally make out Yang. Due to the color of our clothing, and Yang's blonde hair, I figured she'd be decently simple to spot, but she's actually quite well hidden in her bushes, and under the shade of a few larger trees. I can't make Blake out, which is a good thing, I guess. I then hear a bird-like whistle coming from where Blake should be. That's her, she's ready. I can just barely make out her left shoe in the branches of a tree. It's my turn. I slowly pull a stone arrow from my back and get ready. My arrow's in the string, loaded and ready. I pull the string back, waiting for the Parasaur to lift it's head from grazing. It finally does, oblivious to me. Quickly, I stand to my feet and let the arrow go. THWACK! It hits right above the eye. The creature panics and quickly gives an alarm call. The heard begins to panic and flee the direction I predicted. I've already got another arrow in my bow, pulled back...but I'm not the only one hunting. Suddenly, with a furious roar, a large, bipedal shape bursts from the bushes near my prey: it's a raptor of sorts, a BIG one. It quickly jumps onto the Parasaur and starts slashing with it's claws and feet, biting down on the poor thing's windpipe. I send my arrow flying without meaning to in shock, and it hits the raptor's back. The paramour drops to the ground from the raptor's attack, and the tan-scaled predator looks up at me with furious, hungry eyes. With a screech, it readies it's claws and rushes at me. I scream as loud as I can, quickly pulling out a spear in reflex "HELLLLLLLP!" The raptor pounces on me and I use my spear to block it, but it still knocks me to the ground onto my back. I try to hold it back as it tries to snap at me and slash as much as it can. I can feel it's legs moving, trying to both pin me down but disembowel me at the same time. I struggle in fear and keep it from doing so. "RUBY!" I hear Yang scream, and she's already running through the parasaur herd trying to get me. Weiss, who burst out of hiding as she was supposed to, runs towards me, as does Blake. I quickly kick the raptor in the stomach with strength that's come out of nowhere, and the impact lifts it up enough that I manage to quickly swing my spear and slit it's throat. It reels back and roars in pain...it's not the only one with pals to back it up. The second I had kicked it, five other raptors have burst out of hiding, and are charging directly towards me. Either my friends get to me first...or apparent death does.

One of the raptors, a gray-and-black one, is dashing right alongside Blake. It notices her and then screeches, dashing and closing in on her. Blake quickly pulls out, not a spear, but two hatches, and starts dual-wielding them, as if they were only a mirage of Gambol Shroud. She slides at it and with a spin, and hits it twice in the head with her hatchets. It reels back only to leap at her. To retaliate, she quickly drops down onto her knees, back along the ground, and tears a large hole in it's abdomen as it leaps over her. It can't land easily from that and lands onto the ground on it's feet in pain, but conscious. Blake, with a roar, takes the opportunity as she quickly stands and freaking throws one of her hatchets at the back of the creature's head. It hits hard and deep, lodging in the back of it's skull, instantly killing it. Weiss, on the other hand, is jumped by another tan one. It jumps onto her from behind, but she rolls with it, throwing it off. She quickly begins to wield a spear similar to Myrtenaster, and rushes at the confused creature, slicing it with the spear's tip several times. It whirls around in some sort of a roundhouse kick and slashes at her left leg with it's right right leg. It cuts a strip of her pantleg off, cutting the top piece of skin. She buckles onto one knee at this, and the raptor comes down from above to try and give the finishing blow. Weiss barely uses one hand to blocks the attack and the creature with her spear in time. It holds the creature just long enough, which tries to snap at her from above her and kick at her below, pushing back against the spear. Weiss takes the only other spear she has with her other hand and readies it. Then, her other spear snaps in half, and the creature lunges forwards at her, mouth wide open. Weiss gives some sort of primal scream of rage, and using her one last spear, stabs the creature in it's open mouth, through the back of it's throat, spear tip piercing out the back of the creature's head. It's an instant kill, and the whole thing collapses on top of her. Yang weaves in and out of the parasaurs as she tries to get to me. She's not the only one navigating the living maze. From her left, a raptor pounces onto her with a shriek. The green-and-black predator and my sister go rolling out of the herd as one, and when they stop, the creature's on top of her, and has already cut her arms and legs up several times with it's claws. To the creature, it may seem like good hits to incapacitate it's prey, but we and Yang know otherwise. Her eyes are red and her hair aflame. She does still have her semblance! It tries to bite her head with it's mouth, but Yang grabs the creature's jaws with her bare hands, fighting back. With a rage-induced scream, she yanks her right arm, which is on the raptor's bottom jaw, to the right- snapping it's jaw. She's nowhere near done, nor is she even playing around. While the raptor is only shocked by the sheer pain for a few milliseconds, Yang adjusts her grip outside of the creature's jaws, and forcibly closes it's mouth. She then quickly has her right hand on it's snout, and the left on the back of it's head. With another enraged scream, Yang snaps the raptor's neck with complete ease and brutality. Meanwhile, the raptor who's neck I slit has still been trying to fight me, but blood loss has exhausted it. I manage to get a vicious stab to the side of it's head, getting it in it's eye. That's the killing blow. Just as it slumps to the ground, I see the last raptor running at me. It's a red-and-black one. In a survival reflex, I quickly pull an arrow from my quiver. It lunges at me, and I bend down, and fire. The arrow hits the side of it's head. It leaps over me and lands on it's feet, walks a few feet, then drops to the ground. I give a few huffs, and look down, panting, still on one knee. Yang is the first to run up to me, Weiss and Blake right behind her. "Ruby! Ruby! Are you alright?" she pleads, just as exhausted. I nod a few times, and my breathing becomes a little strange. "What?!" Yang pleads. "What? What is it?!"  
"Hah...hah..hah...he...ha...HA HA!" I cheer in triumph loudly, rearing my head and raising my bow triumphantly. "I TOLD YOU WE'D OWN THIS ISLAND!" I'm both ecstatic, and scared as hell, tears in my eyes even though I'm also incredibly joyous. Yang shakes her head before giving me a massive hug, and the others do similarly. We've got not just our target down, but also, five raptors. "You have no idea how happy I am you're OK..." Yang says, rubbing the top of my head a few times as Blake and Weiss let go, so it's just the two of us, before Yang herself lets go. "I...i really should grow up and stop taking this so lightly".

"Actually, I advise you...to kinda not." I say.

"Why's that?..." my sister replies a slight bit confused.

"Because. Your lightheartedness is what makes this all easier to take in".

She smiles and gives me another hug. "Alright, alright", I say, still hugging her back. "But let's get to work. Let's at least get everything in one spot before we start skinning and things".

The others agree, and go back to fetch the bodies of their kills. I manage to drag the first raptor that attacked me over to the parasaur, and then take a moment to watch the others start hauling theirs back. Heh, Yang's got her's slung over her shoulder, with a smile on her face. She flashes me a overconfident thumbs-up. I go back to fetch the other raptor. I slowly approach the body of the red one as the others put their bodies down. I go to grab this one by arm-?! I freeze. It's body...it's chest...is still moving up and down. I look at the head of the creature, seeing it's wide-open amber eyes. It gives a slow blink, and I look at the arrow that's fallen off. It's a green arrow. I apparently shot a tranquilizer arrow by mistake, and seemed to have knocked it unconscious! "Hey!" I call over my shoulder "I actually knocked this one out!" The others slowly advance to my side, and look at the seemingly tranquilized raptor. "So you did..." Weiss says, noting the effects of the arrow. "At least we know they work".  
"Now to put that thing out of it's misery" Yang says somewhat spitefully, raising a spear and stepping forwards. I quickly hold my right arm in front of her. "Hey! Wait a sec!" I say with pleading in my voice. Yang pauses, then, upon seeing my face, puts the spear down and steps back. I get closer to the raptor and kneel next to it...as I could with the compy, I can make out "Wild Female Raptor- Lvl 45". I can also tell how long it's going to be under tranquilization, and how fast it's torpor is depleting. I then think...why do I feel as if I should...I slowly take out a piece of raw meat from my inventory. I then check to see if the Raptor has it's own inventory...not exactly, but I can see it's own stats, now that it's tranquilized. I slowly walk to the front of the creature and slowly put out my hand, the raw meat chunk at the very tip...it slowly lifts it's head, before sniffing it, then weakly grabbing it with it's mouth and eating it. I check at the raptor again and...i see something different this time. "Taming effectiveness: 100.00%"-!? I...I stare at it in shock. "I...I can tame it?!"

The others are in just a shock, and note this as well. Blake quickly opens her implant, searching for something on taming. "Apparently..." she quickly reads. "Some creatures can be tamed by tranquilizing them, and then feeding them, while keeping them unconscious, until the taming process is effective. Creatures gain bonus levels depending on taming effectiveness, which depletes with time and type of food used. Certain animals like certain foods more than others. If the creature is attacked in any way, by human or wild animal, taming effectiveness sharply drops. The higher effectiveness, the quicker and better the tame...and not all animals can be tamed by tranquilizing them either. Some require feeding them while they are still conscious, building trust. Others may require even different tactics, and then some of the creatures on the island are completely un-tameable." Blake deactivates her implant and the three of them look at me. I turn to them. "Please, please, please! Let me try and tame it! I was the one who knocked it out, and she'll be a big help! Please!?"

"It'll be just another mouth to feed..." Weiss notes. "But it's another mouth who can help feed us all!" I rebuttal. "Think about how useful she could be when we're out hunting?...please? Please?..." I'm literally beg them. They stare at me, before looking at each other for a couple moments, and turn to me. Yang...smiles. "I...guess you're right on that". She says. "It would be nice to have help from a local, right?".

"Taming animals might make life easier for us". Blake says. "In theory, if we ever get the resources, we could tame one of those turtles, or some compys...or even one of those long-necked dinosaurs. Each animal might have a specific use...that can help us in the end with a variety of work." Weiss smiles "I agree...you were lucky to use that tranquilizer arrow instead of stone". Yang smiles warmly at me still, briefly looking at the others. "Well then. No hard feelings, and I guess it's settled. We'll let you give taming it a shot. If it works out, it's your responsibility, alright sis?"

I smile enthusiastically, my face lighting up. "Yes! Of course! Thank you!"

"Nah, thank you for knocking it's lights out". Yang says winking. "You can stay here with her. We'll get started on skinning and stuff. If you need more meat, just give us a holler, alright?"

I nod, and they turn to begin working. I look back at the raptor. I wonder if she's still hungry? I take out another piece and feed it to her again. The raptor, in those few moments, is so hungry she actually scarfs down twelve individual pieces of meat. I smile, and decide to look over her once again...i actually note how beautiful she really is,with her red-and-black coloration. She has large feathers on her tail tip, on her arms, and on the back of her head; scales everywhere else. I slowly put my head on the side of her chest, hearing her breathing and her heartbeat. I slowly pet her on her back as I do this. I'm completely fascinated by her now. After a few seconds of listening to her heartbeat, I get back up on my knees and feed her a few more pieces of meat. I then get an idea. I stand up, then move around behind her head, before sitting again. I slowly lift her head, and give a few "shhh" of reassurance, stroking her head as I do so, stretching out my legs under her head, and then finally resting her head back down in my lap. I feed her another piece of meat and gently stroke her head while it rests in my lap. "There there..." I say low and calmly. "It's OK...I'm not going to hurt you. No, I'm not..." I feed her another piece of meat. "I know you don't feel good, and I'm sorry for doing this...but I like you. I think you and I can be good friends...good girl...it's OK..". The raptor seems to give a relaxed exhale after this. I smile "That's it...good girl...I won't hurt you...no I won't. I'll protect you. I'll be here all the time. It's OK...I won't leave you now...good girl..."

Meanwhile, the rest of us have already skinned two of the raptors. Weiss and Blake are finishing up the parasaur while I continue working on a raptor. "She seems to be doing a good job". I say, seeing my sister with the raptor's head in her lap. Blake and Weiss look over. "She's taking it very seriously." Blake says. "She's really trying to forge as best a bond as possible...that's good". Weiss looks a little worried. "Now as...I know it would be great to domesticate something like that...but...we killed it's pack mates. We originally were trying to kill it, too. I mean...who's to say when it gets up it doesn't try and...or if it..."

"ey, Blake". I interrupt. "Didn't you say that the taming process is just 'tranq-and-feed', right?"

"The majority of the animals on the island, yes".

"I'd say we're fine, then".

"That's not what I was asking and you know that." Weiss replies. "I mean, OK, what if that is the process, but it could also be a different one entirely for a raptor! What if when it comes to it...still views us the same? I mean, from what I remember hearing about raptors back home in books and stuff is that they were pretty intelligent dinosaurs..."

"Dogs are intelligent". I say. "Cats too. People tamed them, didn't they?"

"But aren't raptors supposed to be smarter than dogs?...Can you blame me for asking questions? You were the only other one who got torn up by one of those things..." she says, looking at her own leg, which is nearly healed. Most undoubtedly from her Aura, but also from a strange healing rate we've noticed ourselves having since arriving on ARK. I look at her a second, then sigh, before replying.

"...Weiss, I'm not...not worried." I say. "If that's what you're asking for. I'm still concerned, but...you saw the way Ruby was looking at it and us. I feel like we should at least give her the chance."

Weiss takes a moment, sighs, and smiles. "Yeah, you're right. Besides...if it does work...like you guys were saying, the possibilities could be endless! Heh, Yang, if Ruby gets the raptor, you might as well get the Rex, right?"

I smile, thinking a moment. "Me? With a tamed T-rex? Oh, the chaos I would spread...and how badass that would be! I'd ride that thing everywhere!"

"Of course you would". Blake says with a smile. "But before romping around on a T-rex, there's finishing up these animals".

"Right, right". I reply, smiling, and shaking my head, before continuing to hack away at the raptor that attacked me earlier.

Several minutes go by, and I'm still trying to bond with the raptor. I feel confident in what I've been doing. The other three walk over. "Hey. Finished up?" I ask. "Yep." my sister replies. "How are you two?"

I smile, looking down at the raptor's head, who is resting contently in my lap. "I think we're doing very well. It's much calmer now than it was earlier."

"That's excellent". Blake says. "Have you used any narcotics or narcoberries to keep it's torpor up?"

"...to be honest, I was going to..." I said "But...then I started feeling like I didn't need to."

"...so...that thing could wake up any moment, right?" Weiss states. "...yeah, but I trust it." I say uneasily, but with confidence. "I trust her."

"Did you think of a name for her yet, sis?" Yang says, as if to ease everybody. I nod, smiling. "I like the colors a lot. So I want to name her Ember".

" 'Ember', eh? I like it."

We all smile at each other, when...suddenly, it happens. From lying down, Ember quickly rises to her feet, startling the four of us. All of us are wide-eyed as she seems to stretch and brandish her claws quickly with a growl, before turning at me. Her eyes are locking with mine...and then, I see it. With the wild animals, I always saw their names as orange or tan...but for hers...i see green. And she's not level 45 anymore...but 70. I Smile "E...Ember?"

She gives some sort of affectionate growl before nuzzling my face. I laugh and smile, holding and petting her head. "Good girl, good girl!" I say. The others are relieved, and look at each other happy I'm fine. Ember continues being affectionate and loyal towards me, beginning to push on me. "Hey! Hey!" I say. "Ember! Ember, you!" I laugh as she pushes me onto my back and continues to nuzzle and lick me. The others laugh at this "Ember!" I say laughing and happy. "Ember! Good girl! I love you too! Chill out!" I say petting her all over. Weiss seems to smile. "Well..not exactly what I was fearing...but still familiar to it". She jokes. The others nod and smile. "Ember!" I say once again. "That's enough! Chill out, girl! Off!" She seems to get it that time, and stops, standing up and allowing me to stand up as well. I check, and now she has her own inventory. I take the remaining pieces of raw meat I had in my inventory and place it in hers. I see the stack go down by one while it's in her inventory. I guess it's feeding without having to actually feed her. Convenient. I then notice my implant's been flashing a strange, new light. The others' are doing similarly. I check a highlighted tab, called "Survivor profile". Blake, Weiss, and Yang look over my shoulder, with Ember looking at me to my left. There's a full screen, full of many, MANY blank squares that say either "kill to unlock" or "tame to unlock". There's one that's different, though. One with a blue outline of a raptor's head, and the word "Raptor" above it. I poke it, and then it shows what appears to be a dossier on the species.

Common Name: Raptor

Species: Utahraptor Prime

Time: Early Cretaceous

Diet: Carnivore

Temperament: Aggressive

-Wild-

Utahraptor Prime is an incredibly aggressive sub-species of Utahraptor found on the Island. It tends to travel in small hunting packs, attacking smaller prey with its sharp teeth or enlarged foreclaws.

One of the faster creatures on the Island, Utahraptor Prime often uses hit-and-run tactics on larger opponents. The large, curved talon on the second toe of this sub-species seems particularly suited for attacking while jumping.

Utahraptor Prime usually kill their prey with numerous slashing and leaping attacks in rapid sequence.

-Domesticated-

Despite its normally aggressive nature, Utahraptor Prime has become one of the main mounts for roaming bands of raiders, as well as scouts for the larger collectives. Those who ride Utahraptor Prime claim they are difficult to tame, but fiercely loyal once they are. As a carnivore, once tamed they require a steady stream of meat to maintain.

In excitement, I close my implant. "Did you read that?!" I ask. "I can ride Ember around! Although I think I need a saddle first...oh, who cares?! I can ride a dinosaur!" My sister and Weiss are excited for me, but Blake is in thought. "Hmmm...the dossier stated 'Utahraptor Prime has become one of the main mounts for roaming bands of raiders, as well as scouts for the larger collectives'. We've seen the rest of Cragg's island from our vantage point, and seen a lot of the rest of the island...there doesn't seem to be anybody else on the island".

"Or...maybe there was?..." Weiss said.

"W...what do you think might have happened to them?" I ask, petting Ember. "...Maybe they went extinct". Blake said, looking off towards the top of the red obelisk. "Either by their own methods...or not".

"Wait, if the point of this is survival of the fittest, why would the race kill the other people off? Due to a whim?...or what if they evolved too much?"

"I don't know." Blake says, shaking her head "But the Implant mentions Ultimate Life Forms, so I don't think it's a case of 'you evolved and adapted too much, so we'll kill you off'".

"Ultimate Life Forms?" I ask.

"The apparent pinnacles of the ARK's success. From what I've read, and what the implant says, there's four of them, at the least. From what the implant says, there are certain conditions which must be met for people to try and summon and challenge these life forms. Apparently, rewards are given if you succeed..."

"Well...let's forget about them for a decent while". I say "We're waaaaay too early to even think about challenging them. If they only appear by being summoned, we should be OK. Although, I do also agree with you, Blake. If humans just did suddenly...disappear from ARK...I'm curious why. Maybe as we go along, we'll find out."

"Sounds like a plan." Yang says. "Oh, and Blake. Does the implant say anything else about taming? Maybe, hints or something?..."

Blake checks her implant again. "I don't think we get that much of a guide...but I think if we just contemplate how the animal behaves we might be able to figure out what taming process is best. It DOES say, however, that the highest level animals we'll encounter are in their 60s...so if we tame any more creatures, I'd say the first requirement is they be level 30 or higher".

"If that's the case, then". I say. "Let's wander around a little, though...get a lay of the land. If we're gonna call Cragg's Island our home, we need to know how to navigate it". The others agree, so we head down the plains, with Ember trotting right alongside me. We follow it down to a different beach, this time, with the herd of Parasaurs from earlier now here, browsing from the beach-side bushes. We stop here for a moment, to rest and forage a bit our own, and start having lunch. Yang checks her implant. "Ey!" she calls. "Looks like we have enough leftover hide for me to give everybody a clothing upgrade."

"Clothing upgrade?" Weiss asks. "From Cloth to Hide!" Yang says. "Think of it as...dino leather!"

"Would...that even be comfortable?"

"Aw, come on! It's what we've got better than cloth. I know none of this is designer brand, but it's Yang Xiao Long Practical ARK Survival Brand! Trust me, you won't look like a giant wallet when I'm done with these."

"Well...these cloth clothes are still comfy, and you did well on these. I guess we can still use them for pajamas".

"I'll get to work then...it'll take me a little bit, so take a look around, just watch out."

We continue foraging, near the heard of Parasaur. We then hear something storming along in the sand up the beach, and look. We see a mid-sized predator dashing at the herd of Parasaur. It's got long legs, a sleek frame, two minuscule arms tucked to it's sides, a rounded head, and two horns. I can barely make out "Wild Male Carno, lvl 2". It's charging dead at a parasaur that hasn't noticed it, and bites into it's right flank. The parasaur screams in pain and the herd flees down the beach, with the Carno chasing them down. I look back at Yang. "Ey Yang, wha'd ya think of that Carno?"

"Cool looking...and it might be something I'd want, for sure. But I feel there are bigger things more up my ally. I'd kinda like something with a little more punch".

"I guess when it comes to you, Yang..." Blake says "You'll be more into the creatures that pack the bigger punch".

"Yeah, I guess. What about you?"

"Me?...I'd like something quick yet versatile. What about you, Weiss?"

"Hmm...I'd say I want something a little more well-rounded. The jacks-of-all-trades. I'm fairly confident there's a few of those around somewhere. So how about you, Ruby? You can't just be satisfied with Ember, right?"

I gave a smug face and pet Ember "I am quite satisfied with her. Although I understand what you mean...maybe the quicker the better, but that's just me."

After a few moments, I looked out to see that rather than run with it's herd, a strange parasaur decided to try and swim across the bay to another island. "Pfft! I think he didn't get the memo". I say smiling, and pointing. Yang smiles and shrugs. "Maybe he's the directionally challenged one. But hey, looks like they're good swimmers." We continue watching it swiftly make it's way across the bay...that is, until an absolutely massive shark suddenly grabs it from beneath. The whole shark is so big the parasaur's whole body is within the grasp of it's lethal jaws, and it's come up with such force it lifts itself and the parasaur out of the water for a brief few moments before crashing back beneath the waves. I'm sitting there in stunned silence having seen that, and I assume Weiss and Blake are too. "HELL YEAH THAT WAS AWESOME!" Yang cheers. "THAT there is something I WANT, BABY!"

"Y...you want a giant shark?" I ask my sister. "Do you even think a shark can be tamable?..."

"Eeyup. Something in my gut tells me so." Yang says, having finished two hide outfits. Dang, she's working hard. Soon, she finishes all of our outfits, and we quickly change in the bushes. These definitely offer more protection, for sure. They're also a little warmer. We head up the beach before Weiss stops in her tracks. She's staring at...well...what looks like some sort of large, flat beetle crawling up out of the sands. Yang gets an idea and grabs the creature by it's apparent horns and lifts it up, and it flails it's small legs around in the air. Weiss steps back. "Really? I mean, really? What is it anyway?"

"Trilobite." Blake says "And that Chitin on it looks worthwhile. Yang, would you mind keeping it there? Best to get at it's softer underbelly."

"Ey, and you miss and stab me? Nope. But, here ya go." She tosses the thing Weiss's direction, who hastily gets out of it's way, and the Trilobite lands on it's back, flailing. Blake stabs the creature with a spear, and it flails more violently before dying. She then starts hacking at it's underside to start removing the valuable bits of shell, and upon opening it up, finds a few glistening white pearls within a black liquid. Blake carefully plucks out a single pearl, with some slight black goop on it. "...the black liquid is oil" she observes "and this...this pearl seems to be made of silicon".

"Silicon? The stuff they use for computers and electronics?" I ask. Blake nods "This guy is probably a bottom-feeder, so he's probably picking all this up in his digestive tracts. So that makes three things that make these guys valuable to us: Chitin, Oil, and Silicon pearls. If we find any more along the beaches, I suggest we make use of them."

After harvesting the one trilobite, we continue along the beach and kill a few more we find along the way. The oil and silicon are in various amounts, but they're still there. Eventually, the beachside stops getting clear, and there are forests of coastal foliage in the sand. Now we're on the Cragg's Island side of the channel, with the Red Obelisk nearby. It's up ahead of us, to the right. We're looking up at it as we advance. "So what purpose do you think they serve?" I ask, cupping my right hand over my eyes, looking at the Red Obelisk. "I don't exactly know..." Blake replies, "Maybe it helps regulate the islands themselves? Destroying them could be a very bad idea...if they can be destroyed at all. If they are tied to the island, destroying them could bring about the destruction of the ARK and all life thereon it".

"So don't blow up the giant floating towers..." Weiss notes. "Alright then...". We continue looking at the obelisk as we advance...and Yang suddenly trips onto her face. "Ey, you alright, sis?" I say, stopping and turning to see her faceplanting into the soil. Yang spits sand and dirt out of her mouth, and wipes her face as she sits up onto all fours. "Yeah, fine. Blonde moment...that's all." she says, pointing to her own hair as she says "Blonde" "Tripped over this fallen palm tree". She looks back at her ankles...the log is a darker, ruddy brown...much different from the white bark of the palm trees. Then it shifts...it's a tail. Yang quickly gets off of it and rises to her feet, and the five of us stand together as the tail's owner rises from it's slumber. Weiss, Blake, Yang and I stand ready for a fight as the large creature stands. Once again, it's another bipedal carnivore. This one seems a little bigger than a Carno. It's arms are also much longer, and on each of it's hands, there's a claw bigger than the others. It's head is elongated, similar to that of a crocodile. It shakes for a moment, then turns and looks at us. From what I can see, it's a level 12 female "Baryonyx". We expect it to start behaving aggressively to us...but it does nothing but stare at us, as if merely curious what had woken it up. I look at Ember, and she's not threatened at all. I stand down. "Hey...Ember's not behaving any way towards it...I...think we're OK.". The others aren't so sure, but slightly lower their guard upon seeing how relaxed Ember is. The Baryonyx seems to stretch, before moving to the water's edge. It wades in ankle-deep and begins staring at the water, before suddenly slashing at it with it's right arm, slapping a fish -called a coelocanth- onto the beach, which it then proceeds to eat. "Oh..." Yang says. "It's...a fish-eater. I guess that explains the claws, webbed hands and feet". She says, watching it devour the fish. Yang, after a pause, then walks out into the water as well, standing knee-deep in the water, spear ready. I suppose she wants to give spearfishing a shot. "Would be a nice and easy way to get food..." Weiss says, and Blake watches on with intent. I smile "I think Blake's only interested in if Yang succeeds or not." I jest. Blake's eyes dart to mine. "...right..." she says "but you do have a point...it could take place of hunting sometimes, although I don't think we'll get hide from fish...so we'll have to moderate it". Yang's eyes are tracking nearby coelocanth. None of them are within striking distance, so she waits silently...just then, something under the water, around the same size of a coelocanth, darts directly at Yang. Suddenly, Yang screams and grabs at her right leg, there's blood in the water. More blurs dart towards Yang as she stabs at whatever's latched onto her leg and tries to free and haul herself ashore. We rush to her aid...but somebody else does instead. The Baryonyx rushes towards whatever is attacking Yang and causes such a commotion she's able to escape. Her pantleg has held up, with only a few puncture marks of teeth visible. She's fine. The Baryonyx is still going ballistic against whatever is in the water, and with another claw slash, slaps one of the assailants onto the shore. It's a massive piranha, around 3ft long, which flops wildly on the sand, jaws viciously clapping together, before the Baryonyx viciously kills it. Yang stares at the dead fish in the predator's jaws. "H...how did I not loose my leg to that thing?" she says aloud. "Heh...must be lucky, sis". I say "Although I think that confirms that this river...isn't safe for fishing". Just then, Ember gives a growl, to get our attention. I look at her, and she looks down the beach, then back at us. I suddenly get it. "Hey! You remember that one river we can see looking down from the cliff? Maybe it's a cut-off from this river. Maybe it's a little safer!"

"Hah...guess it's worth a shot". Yang says, standing as her wound heals. So we continue through the brush. I lead the way, but this time Ember isn't beside me. She's actually near my sister, and has been allowing Yang to lean on her for support, as her leg heals. Seems like Ember's loyal to more than just me. We continue trudging through the bushes. I part apart one, only to see another small, bipedal dinosaur facing my way, it's been looking down at the ground, as if sniffing. When I part through the bushes and see it, it looks up at me. Suddenly, it gives a hiss and flares out a neck frill, spitting something in my face. I'm blinded, and I can't move too well. I panic and fall on my back with a scream. I can't see anything but feel the creature leap onto my stomach. I hear a screech, then rapid footsteps as something seems to tackle the smaller dinosaur off of me. Blake is helping me to my feet as I regain my vision. I see Ember fighting with the "Dilophosaurus", pinning the level 25, smaller dinosaur to the ground. Finally she manages to bite it's head just right, and it stops flailing. Ember looks back at me to see if I'm OK. I smile, wiping the green goop from my face. "Good girl, Ember." I say "I'm OK".

Ember then goes back to tearing apart the Dilo. From watching her...it appears like she's doing more than eating it. She seems to be...gathering from the carcass, as if we would! When she's finished, I call her over and check her inventory. She's got a few more pieces of meat, and some hide now. "So looks like carnivore pets can gather from kills too." I note "that's helpful..." I continue petting Ember's snout, before we move on. Now we enter a clearing. It goes up another hill, and to the top and the right, I see our rock where our base is. I smile. "We've gone full circle, and look!" I point to the river. It's crystal clear, and there's only coelocanth within it. "All fish, no piranha."

"There IS that big rock back where this river connects to the channel...maybe it keeps the piranha out". Blake replies. The beach is clear, and we decide that this is where we'll fish from now on, and since it's near our house, we also decide to use it to bathe in. Yang decides to test out the water here, and dives right in to the clear water. "Dang, it's it's nice and warm!" she says, swimming on her back, looking at us. "I'd say this place works out after all." I decide to take my shoes off and sit at the water's edge, dipping my feet into the river. Ember sits next to me so I can pet her. Blake begins walking up, with Weiss a few feet behind her. Weiss takes a moment and looks back up the hill, then us by the river, and gives a contented, relieved sigh. "This really is a good location...Looks like we're pretty set after all." she says relieved, then takes a step forwards with her left foot to join us. She goes to move her right, but she hears some sort of a low, yet shrill noise as something grabs her right ankle. "Hgnh!-WHAT THE HELL?!"

I turn around just as Weiss does, and time slows down for me...i turn around just in time to see Weiss turn around and get stabbed in the stomach by the stinger of a man-sized scorpion. "WEISS!" I scream. Blake, who's still closest, immediately puts all her weight into throwing a spear with deadly precision. It strikes the giant scorpion's head, but becomes lodged within its chitin armor. It's not a fatal blow, but it's enough to interrupt the second sting the scorpion was attempting. Ember runs over with a shriek and gets to Weiss at the same time as Blake does. The scorpion stings Weiss a second time, once again in the stomach, but just as it does so, Blake's grabbed it's tail, as has Ember. Yang and I rush over and try to rip Weiss free of the scorpion's pincers. Weiss is fighting back as well, but I can feel her getting weaker, as if the scorpion's venom is taking it's toll, the pincers of the scorpion are doing something to her...or both. Weiss is getting weaker and weaker very quickly in my grasp. In a primal roar I thought incapable of uttering, I suddenly lunge at the head of the scorpion with a hatchet and smash it right above the eyes. This causes it to let go. The two are torn apart from each other, but I'm not done. I keep savagely beating the scorpion upside the head with the hatchet, green blood flying from it's body with each slash, until it finally gives a long hiss and goes limp. It hasn't attempted to grab me with with it's pincers at all, but was in too much of a panic from Blake and Ember grabbing it's tail and my brutal assault on it's head to really react. Blake lets the tail of the dead "Pulmonoscorpius", as I can now see it to be called, go, as does Ember. I sit there on my knees, furious, insect blood on my face and clothes, as I pant heavily in some sort of angry rage. I quickly look back at Yang and Weiss...Yang's kneeling on the ground with Weiss in her arms...and Weiss has her eyes closed, limp in Yang's arms. "Weiss!" I shriek, running over with Blake and Ember. "Weiss! Weiss!" I say, shaking her, as Yang's already been doing. "Weiss! C'mon! Weiss! Weiss?!" I've got tears in my eyes. Blake quickly puts her index and middle fingers of her right hand at the base of Weiss's neck, then holds me back. I fear the worst of what Blake's about to tell me. "It's Ok..."she says "She's only knocked out".

"Wh...wha...what?" I ask in disbelief, crying "Only...only knocked out?..." Blake nods, looking over to the Scorpion. "It...appears to be just tranquilizer venom, not fatal venom. It's claws must have also contained such venom sacs as it's tail does, so it was constantly hitting her with sedatives. She's fine..." she takes out a few stimberries, and I see what she's trying to do. Yang opens Weiss's mouth open, and we force-feed her a few stimberries. After about fifteen of them through several painful seconds, Blake is popping the 16th one into her mouth when Weiss suddenly spits it out, and gasps. We're relieved, as she slowly comes to, opening her eyes, and looking up at us wearily.

"A...am I dead yet?" she asks. Yang smiles. "Far from it. We won't let you go quite yet". She weakly smiles back at us, and rolls herself off of Yang. Weiss is still very groggy, and crawls over to the nearby river where she scoops some water in her hands and drinks, repeating this several times, regaining hydration from the effects of the Stimberries. Blake stands. "Ruby, mind if I borrow Ember for a sec, to help me with the scorpion real quick?"

"Ah, of course not..." I say, wiping tears from my eyes. "Go on ahead".

Blake whistles to Ember, who begins to follow her, then help her with harvesting the scorpion, including the narcotic poison from it's venom sacs. I look at Yang, smiling. "Well...I...think this has been...sort of better than the first day?" I say. Yang smiles "We've learned a lot, today and yesterday. We're standing on our feet, but we need to get a more firm stance. We've got to be a little more prepared from now on...hope you'll still be our team leader, sis." I smile "of course. Now more than ever do we need each other. I won't fail you guys, I promise!" After Weiss is back to her senses, she takes a moment and looks at her reflection in the water. She partially lifts up her hide shirt to where the scorpion stung her in the gut. There's a large welt there, but it's quickly healing to her relief. Once Blake's finished with the Pulmonoscorpius, we head back up the hill and to our home. Once there, I tell Ember to wait by the fireplace, and she does so, sitting down and resting. "Alright." I say. "now, who's got what? I know I want to try out making a saddle for Ember...but about we've also got the preserving bin to do".

"Let's just split into our old teams, sis!" Yang says. "Blake and I could deal with that makeshift fridge, and you and Weiss could try building that saddle for Ember. Hopefully it works out all works out well". So we decide to do just that. Blake and Yang go inside and to store and gather materials. Weiss and I sit on either side of Ember and begin to pet her to keep her calm. "So..." Weiss said "What are you thinking?" I look over Ember's body. "Well..." I reply "I think the actual seat goes here, on the back between the arms and hips...with support ran to the hindquarters, in front of the legs, front of the chest here, and then the reigns go up the neck here to the head."

"Ok so..." Weiss thinks for a moment, looking around. She raises her right arm, and bends it, looking at her lower arm. "From my elbow to my fingertips...it's around a cubit, which is an older measurement, but...I'd say my arm is around a foot and a half. This part, anyway. That being said..." Weiss puts her elbow on a part of Ember and then counts by a foot and a half, each strap which we want for the saddle, making rough estimates and mental mathematics. As we go inside to start gathering the needed materials, Blake and Yang come out with several sizable rocks, setting them on the ground, as well as some wood. They start by cutting wood and making an outer frame. As they begin to get their boards the right size, Weiss and I come out with wood of our own, plenty of fiber, and some extra hide. We lay the materials next to Ember and get to work. We begin weaving the fiber into long strands, then flattening them into hide sheathes for the straps. When a few are done, we then get to work on the seat of the saddle. Both of our work takes a while, about an hour and a half passes. Weiss and I have finished the saddle, it just now needs to be put onto Ember. Blake and Yang walk over, tired. "Hey..." my sister asks. "Looking good. Are you about done?"

"I'd say so." I reply, noting how sweaty they are. "You two...must be going hard at that thing."

"It's harder than we thought, but we're just about there..." Blake says, looking over to their work. They've got two wooden frames, an outer and smaller inner one, with rocks sealed in between them, as well as a wooden door, not attached to it's hinges. "All we've got to do now..." Blake says with a tired tone "is...sew the hide covering onto it". Yang looks at me, wiping the sweat from her brow. "So...you're done with the saddle, right? Why don't you see if it fits?"

She's right. I better try now to see if it fits or not. I pick up the saddle, which is basically my exact size, and place it on Ember's back. She's confused at first, but seems OK with it. Then I run the straps around her, and put the bit in her mouth...which she doesn't mind at all. I step back...it fits, and looks great! I smile, and high-five Weiss. "Nicely done, Weiss!" I say. She smiles "Hey, it's your raptor, your saddle...i just helped out my friend and partner, that's all".

I smile and get excited, but nervous. "W...well then...i...guess there's only one thing left to do, then."I say. The others watch as I walk up to Ember, who's standing and looking at me. "Ember...down" I say, giving her the task to lie down so I can climb on easier. She does so without any fuss, willingly. I step over her back with my right leg, and put my foot in the proper catch. I adjust my left leg into it's catch, and then finally rest atop of Ember. I give her a whistle, as if to say "up"...and she rises, with me on her. I'm nervous as she rises...but then exuberant when she's standing tall with me on her back. "YES!" I holler triumphantly "Yes, yes, yes!"

The others cheer for me. "Look at you, sis." Yang says"You're...riding a dinosaur!"

"Hah, I know! If I get the raptor, you might as well get the Rex, right Yang?"

Yang and Weiss look at each other, smiling. "I guess so, sis!" she replies. Suddenly...I...get a VERY strange feeling, that causes my eyes to widen...I can't exactly describe it. The others quickly look concerned. "...Ruby?" Weiss asks "You...alright?"

"I...think so?..." I say confused, and look at my implant. It's flashing colors again. Blake steps up to me, looking up at me with seemingly awe and confusion. "R...Ruby..." she says. "Is...is it me...or...have both you and Ember...gained a massive amount of levels?..."

I check my implant. I'm level 21 now, same as earlier in the day...but my max experience to next level was 648.35...but I've gained 95,000 experience...possibly from the sheer act of mounting Ember?! I quickly begin to balance out my stats. First, I max my carry weight at 250, then my crafting speed to 150%. My melee damage to 125%, stamina to 300, and health to 310...by the end of my leveling...I'm no longer level 21, but level...68. I put down my implant and stare at the others in shock, then towards Ember. I check her stats. She can also level immensely. I put her weight also to slightly above 250, so she can carry me easily. Then I double her stamina to 820, and get her health to just above 1,500. I then pump the rest into her attack damage, and she ends up with 1,045.72% melee damage. She's maxed out at a level cap of 132. I sit there in shock, before taking a bite of cooked meat, and feeding Ember some raw meat. "S...so just by mounting my own, personal mount...I've gained an immense amount of experience?...i wouldn't think it to be..."

"...maybe it's not necessarily experience" Blake notes "but rather...a reward for hard work". I smile at this. "Alright you three! I bet you can't wait to get rides of your own, huh?!"

Yang smiles "For free levels and a dino level max-out? How would I not be?!"

"I feel like it's some sort of cheap trick...but I'm OK with it it makes me survive easier!" Weiss replies.

Blake shakes her head "Something's strange about the situation...but it's an opportunity we cannot miss. I'm just as eager".

I'm feeling quite determined and encouraged now. "Great! But first...let's see..." I look forwards and give Ember a slight tug of the reigns, and a low whistle. She responds by trotting forwards, as I wanted her to. The others watch on, happily and encouraging. I give Ember's reigns a light turn, and she turns back around like I wanted her to, and I ride her back over to the others. We pull up back next to them, and I smile enthusiastically and triumphantly. I kick my legs in excitement. "I'm soo excited by this! I just really wanna see how fast she goes!" I squeal like a child. Blake gets an idea. "Say hey...you could make good use of that...i think we have some leftover materials to make waterskins for the four of us. If we can make them real quick, could you mind running down to the river and filling them up?"

"Of course. Sounds fun!"

"BUT!" Weiss interjects. "You two have worked enough for a bit." she says to Blake and Yang, seeing how they're still a bit sweaty from the hard work they've been doing. "You two take it easy for a bit. Let Ruby and I make 'em. You two take five".

"I second this proposal." Yang says raising her hand. We laugh. "Alright." I say. "You two chill out a bit. We'll get to work".

Yang and Blake walk over to the firepit and sit down. We have four logs sitting around it, acting like makeshift benches. Yang plops down and rests the back of her head on one log, and crosses her ankles, hands folded on her stomach, resting contently, eyes closed. Blake does similarly, and wipes her face with both hands a moment before resting. Weiss and I head inside for a moment to make the waterskins while Ember patiently waits outside. It takes a few brief minutes, but we've made four waterskins easily enough. I pack them into my inventory and hop back on Ember. Yang opens her eyelids, and adjusts her posture, looking towards me. "Have fun, sis! Don't push Ember too far, now". Blake also opens her eyes and looks at me. "Don't worry, I won't" I reply to my sister. "Now, while you're gone, we'll get back to working on that preserving bin..." Weiss says "and I will lend a hand to distribute the work..."

"Thanks, Weiss." Blake replies "Still a little tired...but we can resume work while Ruby's gone." I nod "Alright. You all do that. I'll be back in a few". I tug on Ember's reigns and give another whistle. She gives an affirmative call, and we dash off. "Bye Sis!" Yang calls as they see me off. "come back safe!"

I'm excited and surprised by Ember's dashing speed. That, and the exhilaration I'm having of riding on a freaking raptor! She's just as quick as I remember seeing her running at me...but riding on her while she does so is...so much cooler! Safer! And more awesome! We dash down the hill, and jump a small rock in our way rather than go around it. Dang, she's agile! And with how strong she's become with my help...heh, I think the two of us will make a great team. We finally arrive down at the river again in mere minutes. We're not the only ones here for a drink. There's a herd of what seems to be Triceratops here, around twenty of them, drinking from the river. They're on edge due to the fact Ember's here, but don't charge at us. We give them plenty of room, and I get off Ember and start filling the waterskins. Ember herself dips her head down and begins to start drinking from the clear water. As I finish filling the last of the waterskins, I put them in my inventory and look up. Across the river, atop a small hill, I see a green Beacon descending. I decide it's worth investigation. I hop back on Ember and loop back a bit, before looking at the river. With a whistle from me and a tug on her reigns, Ember dashes towards it and we attempt leaping over the river. We make it! I'm smiling as we continue up the smaller hill to where the beacon waits. I pull Ember up next to it and check out what it has. Four spyglasses, and around six wooden foundations. I pack it all into my inventory and immediately feel the weight...i bet Ember does too. We head back across, this time, we don't fully clear the river, Ember landing knee-deep, and we keep on out. A few minutes of riding back up the hill, I put Ember back into a standard trot as we enter the area we're homesteading. I arrive just in time to see Weiss, Blake, and Yang muscling the finished Preserving Bin inside and into position. I stop Ember near the firepit and dismount her, only to see all three of them come back out, tired. Even Weiss has seemed to work up a slight sweat. "There she is..." Weiss says a bit out of breath. "Right on que. Did you get them filled up?"

"Nope." I say, smiling "i went out for a joyride".

Yang smiles, shaking her head. "You better be joking, sis. Otherwise, I'm throwing you off the cliff and having Ember for dinner".

"Don't even". I say "Ember's my new Crescent Rose. You touch her only if you wanna have a bad time!"

I gave them each a full waterskin, to which they eagerly drank from. I sighed "Well...i think I might be able to make...maybe...just one sleeping bag, with the materials we have left...who wants it?"

"Howabout Weiss?" Yang suggests. "She's got to have SOME form of comfort rather than a torn-up thatch pillow".

"Hey!" Weiss whined. "I'm sorry if I'm the only one here who still enjoys SOME form of comfort!"

I smirk. "Alright then, Weiss. I guess you get the sleeping bag".

"It's not like i-" Weiss paused for a moment. "Wait...what?"

"Yeah, you...you are the one that...well...needs some sort of comfort, if ya get me...so...It's yours"

Weiss makes a saddened face "Well...now you're making me...it's just I..."

Yang puts her hand on Weiss's shoulder. Seeing the smiles from the three of us, she smiles back. "...thanks guys. Besides...we'll have enough materials for more than one eventually, right?"

We agree to this, and I head inside to make the sleeping bag for Weiss. Once again, Yang and Blake crash by the fireplace and begin resting, only this time, with Weiss joining them. It takes me around twenty minutes, but I make a good sleeping bag, with a more comfortable hide pillow for Weiss. Hopefully she doesn't tear it to shreds. I see I've got some leftover hide...and I get a fun idea. I learned how to make a hide hat...but I want to put a spin on it. I take about ten minutes and make a hat with a wide brim, somewhat like a cowgirl's hat. I smile, having admired my work. Heading outside, I shut the door behind me, and toss the hat onto the face of my half-asleep sister. She's startled by what's on her face for a moment, then picks it up, and smiles. "Ey, thanks sis!" she says, before putting the hat over her head to block out the sun, and starts sleeping again. I decide that it's naptime, so might as well join in. I sit down, then scoot next to Ember, laying my head on her as I get comfortable. Seems like she doesn't mind being my pillow at all. We all begin to nap away a decent part of the afternoon, feeling safe...for now.


	4. Chapter 3

I really think somebody should have been keeping watch. Although, I guess with Ember here, she will be able to sense danger before it gets close. I'm lying across from Ember, who has Ruby asleep with her head on Ember's body. I'm completely exhausted from working on the preserving bin with Yang, and I enjoy basking in the warm sun as I take a well-deserved rest. It's been a good while since we first settled down...and I'm surprised we've gone this far along undisturbed...until now. I...catch the faint sound of something light treading on grass. My ears begin to twitch as I try to pinpoint it's location. It's close. Very close. It's then I hear movement VERY near me that seems to sound like something moving on top of the very log I rest my head upon. I slowly open my eyes, only to have light flood them. I don't move my hands immediately, because a sudden movement might trigger a fear or predatory reaction. I can't see anything immediately...then hear what sounds to be something gripping wood. I look at the rest of the log, and see a pair of scaly legs with sharp talons resting on it. I quickly dart my eyes up and lock eyes with...an owl. It's...a strange owl, too. It's wings are fairly short, and it's legs are about as long as it's normal body is tall...I'd say the whole thing is around 3 ft, or a little more than half my height. The tawny bird with a white underbelly is staring at me curiously. I'm surprised Ember hasn't noticed the thing. I keep staring into the eyes of this strange bird, and can make out a mouthful of a species name... "Wild Male Ornimegalonyx – Lvl 52 -". It's not meaning any harm...just...a curious bird. I'm just as curious as it is, and I decide to see if I can keep it's attention, as it starts to look around at the others. I wiggle my feline ears a few times, and it immediately focuses back onto me. I wiggle my ears a few more times, and it tilts it's head while it observes me. Slowly I move my left arm, and it tracks my movements, only occasionally looking back at my ears which at times twitch to it's curiosity. I pull out a small piece of meat and slowly bring it to my other hand, and hold it to the owl. It backs up a bit, staring at it. I put the meat on the log between us, looking at it, and still occasionally wiggling my ears to let it keep interest. It stares at the meat, before pinning it under it's left foot, scooting the meat closer, bending down, and eating it. I repeat this process two more times before it actually feels comfortable eating out of my hand. I try to pet it once, but it backs up a bit. Too soon. I continue to silently feed it a few more times as it gets used to me. I...think I might actually be taming this bird, this... "Ornimegalonyx". Finally, it lets me lightly stroke the back of it's head once, looking around behind itself only to see my own hand, and calming back down. I continue to stare at the bird, and then finally try to attempt some sort of owl call, for the first time in my life. I let out a very low, yet seemingly convincing hoot as it tilts it's head at me. I do it two more times, and it actually lets one out back at me. Just then, Ruby gives a loud snort of a snore, which causes the owl to quickly leap off the log and bolt. I slowly turn over to see it hiding in the nearby bushes, staring right back at me...very precarious little thing, good for him. He looks at me with...some sort of fondness, from what I can see in his black eyes. I wiggle my ears once and hoot at him, to which he responds by giving another hoot back, twirling his head around once, then leaving into the bushes...I feel I'll be seeing him again. I resume my original sleeping posture, get myself fairly comfortable again, then fall back asleep.

When I awake, the sun is just now setting. I sit up, off of Ember, and stretch, before looking at the setting sun with a warm smile. I get onto my knees, scoot over to the firepit, and light the fire, which begins to catch on quickly. I get up for a second – waking Ember in the process – and head inside, fetching some meat from the preserving bin. I take it out, and once again begin to start cooking meat for supper. The smell of cooking meat begins to wake up the others. Just as Weiss rubs her eyes as she awakes, I look her direction and speak. "Hey Weiss, guess what?"

"What?..." she says tired, still trying to wake up. "You weren't wrong about the sunsets." I say, pointing behind her. She gets up onto her knees and turns around, as do the others, towards the beautiful sunset. "Wow..." Weiss says. "It...really is gorgeous."

"Those hues though". Yang says in awe of the orange sky, and the purple-colored clouds. "They're simply gorgeous".

"You couldn't really get something like this everyday back in Remnant, could you?" Blake replies. "To be honest, when you think about it, nature really is the best painter. It seems unsullied here...and besides the terror you get from that...you also get sheer beauty from this". There's then a loud, yet low call. We look to the down and off to the right of the cliff. There are long-necked dinosaurs there. More than one species, of various sizes, their necks poking through the treetops, as pterodactyls-err, I mean pterosaurs- fly in the sky above. I smile. "It's like they're singing." I say, hearing the long-necks communicate "It...sounds really beautiful".

"This whole scene is beautiful, sis." Yang replies "and to be honest...it's probably one of the coolest things I've seen...I'm glad I'm getting to see it with you guys". We look at each other for a few moments, smiling appreciatively, and go back to admiring the beautiful show nature's giving us. I don't think I'll be missing TV anytime soon due to this. I pet Ember's head a few times as I admire the beauty the ARK shows us for now...and then notice something. What appears to be a large, long-legged owl that's come out of nowhere. It's walked up behind Blake, then does a slight leap, standing on the right of the log she's been sitting on. "Eh?...oh, you again." Blake says, noticing it.

" 'You again'?" I ask. "Ah, yes. He paid us – more specifically me – a visit while we were napping. You scared him off with a snore then."

"Aw, I'm sorry." I say, watching the owl sit next to Blake, and now seeming to be comfortable enough with her to let her pet the back of it's head. "Have you thought of a name, yet?" I ask.

"For this guy?...well, he's got one tongue twister of a name...but for sake of ease, I think I'll just call him O-..." she pauses a moment. "Actually...now that I think of it, I like Ozpin better. They're both wise old owls." she jokes. We all give a slight laugh. "Ozpin, eh?" Weiss asks. "Ozpin the?...uh..."

Our specimen implants are now glowing again, meaning Ozpin's apparently been tamed; and Blake opens up her implant, reading a dossier. "Ozpin the Ornimegalonyx microvivovenator".

"...OK that's a mouthful." Weiss says quite bluntly in shock. "The heck does that even mea-"

"Bird Giant Claw Small Life Hunter" Blake answers.

"...o..k."

I'm humored by this, and take a moment to read the dossier myself. It's describing their usual habitat to be woodlands and open plains, and that they're highly curious, but also incredibly skittish; and can thus be tamed either passively or normally. It talks about how clever and intelligent they are, able to take down creatures around their size, like the Dilophosaurus that attacked me earlier, although they prefer smaller meals. Then I note something interesting. "Hey, it says that Ozpin can be sent out to gather food for us." I note. "If he paid you a visit and didn't wake us up in the process, he must be pretty sneaky. I think he'd do OK, right?..."

"Probably so, yes." Blake says, stroking the back of Ozpin's head. "He'd definitely be useful in that aspect. Yet look there here... it also says he can...remember how to do things for us, apparently".

"He really is a wise old owl!" Yang says. "I'd say he's a super helpful little guy, then. Helping us with food, or just sticking around for moral support- he'd always have an important job!".

Blake nods "He will, won't he?...heh, although, I'm sorta disappointed." she says with a strange smile.

"Oh, why?" I ask, taking meat off of the fire. "Because," Blake says "Your first tame is mount-able. Mine's just...a big owl."

"Oh you!" I say. Yang smiles. "Hey, Blake...you're not one to normally joke around."

"Heh...well, like Ruby told you...your own lightheartedness makes our whole situation easier to deal with. Besides...I better start talking to you guys more. Now we're REALLY stuck together".

We laugh again, and start eating and cooking more meat. I give a piece to Ember to see if she likes it. She does, but not as much as raw meat. We continue to sit around the campfire, eat dinner, and talk to each other. We take turns sharing fun stories from when we were younger as we talk. Seems like Weiss didn't really live too much of a boring life...and besides her early involvement in the White Fang, Blake's got a couple of stories too. We keep eating and socializing until the sun goes down, and the beautiful, star-lit sky now hovers above us. Weiss, Yang, and I are laughing about something Blake's wrapping up telling us. "I'm serious." she says. "All that time, he regretted nothing...and I don't blame him...I kinda wouldn't either!"

"My side hurts..." Yang says between chuckling laughs, head down. "Tonight's been too great". She sighs, catching her breath. "Welp...I think it's time to be checking in. Sometime tomorrow we need to thinking about making an actual...plan. Like when we're going to start on making that bigger, wooden house".

"That's true." Weiss says, then stretches with a yawn. "I'm kinda tired after today too, still..." she's had her head up as she stands and stretches, eyes closed. She opens her eyes. "...oh wow." she says, seeing the stars above. "You weren't kidding, Blake. Nature's one heck of a painter...and this is one heck of a night sky".

We all look up at the beautiful, starry canvas. It's really like no other night sky I've seen before...they're streaks of purple or violet clouds high in the sky...nebulae of some sort, probably. It's completely gorgeous, and I feel as if I'm literally looking off into oblivion. A mesmerizing, fathomless oblivion.

"Even outside the kingdoms, where the lights of the cities obscure the sky...I've never seen anything comparable to this". Blake says, in just as much awe. "When we get secured walls, I'd love to stay out and admire the stars...maybe map them out, as well".

"That could prove useful." I say, yawning. "But so does a good, long, proper night's sleep. There's no storm tonight, so we should be OK and sleep well. Shall we?"

We agree, and head on over to the door of the house. Blake is first inside, and Ozpin follows right after her. Then it's Weiss, Yang, and myself. Ember looks in through the doorway, and gives a whine. "Aw..." I say, stroking her head. "I'm sorry, girl...i don't think there's enough room..."

"Well...actually..." Weiss says, looking at the others, who seem to have the same idea. "There...could be. But only for a short term, alright? Too many inside at once could be a little...crowded. Let's take off her saddle before we all head to bead first, alright?"

I nod, and Ember trots inside...it's upon her entry we really do get the feel and reality that our little shack is actually roomier than we thought. We take off Ember's saddle and put it in storage before changing into cloth clothing again. Blake once again climbs up top the storage boxes, only with Ozpin now following her, sitting at her feet. Weiss takes a moment to get into the one sleeping bag. "Heh...you really sure it's OK I use this?" she says. "I...really do feel bad about it, and I can wait until we all get one..."

"I'm comfortable up here for now, actually." Blake replies. I smile, turning to Weiss. "Weiss, you're a sensitive girl who requires a certain level of comfort to maintain."

"I do not!"

"Heh, I know. We're just lookin' out for ya. Noting how you slept last night...we just feel like you should deserve a better night's rest, that's all".

"Heh...thanks." she scoots down into the sleeping bag, and rests her head on the hide pillow. "Hey...this is really comfy. Nice work, Ruby".  
"Thanks..." I say, sitting on the ground, as Ember lies next to me. Once again, I sort of lean on her, wrapping an arm around her. Yang smiles. "Hey...my back hurt from sleeping against the wall like that last night. Mind if I use Ember as a pillow too, sis?" I ask. I smile in response. "I don't mind, and I don't think Ember does either. She just loves being loved on". Ember gives an apparent chortle of agreement... I wonder if she truly does understand what I'm saying. Yang lies down on the other side of Ember, propping her head up on Ember's back, as Ember lies on her side, an arm draped over me. I smile "Well...goodnight you guys. Here's to a good night's sleep and more good work tomorrow." I say.

"Here here." Yang replies in agreement, before once again folding her hands on her stomach. It doesn't take long before everybody else is asleep, and Ember and I am the last ones to do so ourselves. Soon enough, we too are with everybody else, sleeping happily and contently within the not-so-crowded-after-all shack.

Must have been a few hours later. I was sleeping contently on Ember when I heard what sounded to be a hoot from Ozpin. I figured it must have been an owl being an owl, but then I remembered that he fell asleep around the same time Blake did. A couple seconds later, I hear a low growl coming from Ember, it's sound amplified by my head on her chest. This has woken up both me and Yang, and Ember's staring towards the door, and growling. "Hey girl..." I say, petting her. "It's OK...shhh...Ember, it's alright..." she's not calming down, and keeps growling at the door. This wakes up Blake and Weiss. "What's up with her?" Weiss asks "She better keep it down. Otherwise she goes outside".

"No way!" I say, wrapping my arms around Ember's neck. "Who knows what would happen to her!"

"Then get her to calm down!" Weiss says, before getting back under her covers. Blake's been silent the whole time, and she seems to be listening to something. "Hey Blake" Yang says "What's u-"

"Shh!" Blake quickly snaps. She's trying to pick up on something. Soon we all hear it. Multiple footsteps outside the hut...it sounds as if a group of something seems to be lurking VERY close outside. Weiss slowly sits back up, with a somewhat scared look on her face. The footsteps seem like they come from everywhere. Just then, there's a noise that scares me. It's the door. It shakes once, and then, after a few more seconds, shakes again. The latch on the door goes up and down, something's trying to open the barred door. Blake silently drops down, taking a spear from lying off the wall into her hands. We Weiss gets up out of her bag and grabs a spear on the floor near her. The door continues to shake a few more times, still not violently, but steadily enough. As Yang and I get up onto our knees, Ember quickly stands up and gives a shrill roar at the door and does a mock dash towards it. With this, the door stops shaking, and there is a sound of multiple creatures quickly fleeing, and a couple low cries following this as they communicate during their escape. These cries send shivers down my spine. It's now eerily quiet. There aren't even crickets chirping...everything's dead quiet. "Guys" I whisper "Let's check real quick. Blake, Weiss, get the door. Yang, you get behind me". They nodded, everybody having a spear in hand, as we slowly approach the door. Blake gets right behind the door and grabs the wood barring it, with a spear ready. Weiss is behind her, also ready with a spear of her own. I stand ready for the door to open, with Yang behind me, ready to assist me. I give a slow nod to Blake, who returns it. Slowly, she lifts the wood barring the door, and puts it aside to the wall, arm still pressed against the door. I nod again, and she slowly begins to crack open the door. I see nothing as the door slowly opens. Suddenly, there is a shrill shriek and carnivorous dinosaur shoves it's head through the crack, attempting to force the door open, and snapping at me. It's head is bald and scaly, but has black feathers on it's neck and back. I shriek as I begin stabbing at the dinosaur which I can now make out as a "Troodon". Yang's stabbing just as frantically as Blake and Weiss use the combined effort of their weight to try and force the door shut. Soon there's another Troodon trying to force their way in. A third one pounces onto the door, opening it enough for the first Troodon to charge in. It pounces onto me and bites my neck, as I grab at it and try to throw it off. Yang, in a reflex of sibling protection, suddenly uppercuts it at the base of it's neck, which causes it to let go. In the same motion, Yang grabs the man-sized raptor and chucks it out the door at the other two, which clears the way and allows Blake and Weiss to hastily shut and bar the door. I'm on my back now, convulsing and twitching. Blood comes from the wounds in my neck. They're fairly shallow, luckily, so I'm not bleeding out. "Ruby! Ruby!" Yang pleads at me "Ruby! Stay with me! You're alright."

"Hua..hu...heng...pha..nggh" I try to speak anything, but I just babble out nonsense for a response as I feel my body locking up. Yang shakes me and continues to panic as my body locks up, no longer convulsing. My fingers twitch every once and a while, I can only move my eyes, which quickly dart around in fear. "Sis? SIS!?" Yang panics, as Blake and Weiss gather near me. I can't speak, I can't move. Just then there's a shriek from a Troodon, and the door shakes violently. I've got nothing but a frozen look of fear as they're forced to leave me there on the floor, paralyzed, to fight off the attackers. There are multiple cackles and screeches outside, allowing me to make out seven different voices: seven different Troodon. The Troodon are communicating outside, undoubtedly plotting on how to breach the inside. One suddenly shoves it's head through a wall in the back, opposite side of where we are. Ozpin leaps down from the storage boxes and stomp-kicks the Troodon in the head, slashing across both it's eyes with his talons in the process. Blinded, the Troodon shrieks violently and pulls it's head out of the wall in a panic. I can hear it panicking in blindness, as it's voice hints to it backing up. Suddenly, I hear the sound of a slight amount of pebbles falling, then a loud shriek that fades off into the distance. It's fallen off the cliff in it's blind panic. Six left. They're scratching and slashing at the thatch walls. "They're trying to get us to attack the walls and thus let them in." Blake says quickly. "So we just have to wait for them to actually break in?!" Weiss counters. Yang's furious "Hell no! Not yet! They'd get a shot at Ruby! NO WAY!" she quickly starts pounding on the walls back and screaming. "SCREW OFF!" She roars "GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!" I'm shocked to hear my sister use such language, but at the same time, granted the situation, I'm not. I get it: she's trying to scare them off by raising as much of a commotion as possible. Blake and Weiss soon join in, along with Ember. Minutes tick by, and somehow it seems as if the noise display might be doing something. I'm still lying on the floor, but I can slowly feel my body unlocking. My fingers are slowly responding again. I slowly roll over, and stutter onto all fours. An idea suddenly hits me. I do some sort of strange limp-crawl over to one of the storage boxes, and slowly open it. I grab a piece of wood, then some flint. Suddenly, Ozpin's next to me, and he leaps up into the box – beyond my current semi-paralyzed reach, and snags me the fiber I need. Quickly, I splinter off the top of the wood I grab, wrap fibers around it, then tear some thatch off the floor. My movements are jagged, as the paralysis still hasn't left me yet. I light the makeshift torch I've made, and stand onto my feet. This light gets the attention of the others, now seeing me standing. "Ruby!" Yang calls and quickly dashes over to me. I put out my right arm, and grab her shoulder to stop her, and push her aside. I still can't talk because of the paralysis. I do a stuttering limp over to the door, pushing Blake and Weiss aside. I quickly remove the wooden bar from the door, and it flies open, a hungry Troodon roaring at me. Yet since before the door has opened, I haven't been afraid. I know what I'm doing. The second the door flies open, I angrily smash the Troodon in the face with the torch, and there's a small explosion of flame on impact. This causes it to stutter back. The others react similarly. As I thought: nocturnal animals don't like the bright light of fire. The Troodon rushes back at me, but I stomp-kick it back out of the way before violently and angrily throwing the torch right onto it. There's another pop of flame as it impacts the creature and lights the ground around it aflame, as well as the creature itself, which begins to roll around and try to fight off the fire. The other Troodon still panic from the fire. In their panic, they kick the smoldering shaft of the torch into the campfire, which immediately lights it. More sudden light and fire, more panic. I quickly shut the door and bar it again, slumping to the floor. Weiss, Blake, and Yang are looking at me wide-eyed in shock. "Dang..." Yang says "Nice going sis...don't know if I really like this new side to you or not.".

I look up at Yang, still unable to speak, and give her and the others a slow, thumbs-up gesture. They're relieved I'm recovering from the paralytic bite. We hear the noise of the Troodons outside. Their voices are turning from panic to anger again. They must possibly be getting used to the light of the fire now. They're calls have gone back to aggression, and there are multiple barks and hisses coming from outside. I grab my spear from earlier, and begin to try and rise back onto my feet with Weiss's help...but then we hear something. Footsteps. BIG ones.

 _Dun...dun...dun...dun...dun..dun..dundundundundunDUNDUNDUNDUN_

There's suddenly a loud roar. Whatever it's from, it's another carnivore. A MUCH bigger one than the Troodons. Suddenly, there's what sounds to be a strike, and one of the Troodon screeches in pain as I hear it's voice shift positions outside. It's been lifted into the air by the predator. The other Troodon roar and shriek in response, and I can hear them attacking the larger predator. There's soon a large thump as the predator throws the first Troodon to the ground, then begins to lash out at the others. There's a vicious fight going on in front of our house that we can't see, but can hear all to well. We back away from the front wall, more towards the center of the room, as the fight goes on. Suddenly, it sounds as if the predator does a sharp turn in an attack, and then some of the higher walls on the front bend and snap from impact from it's tail, most likely. We can hear the Troodon: they're loosing the fight, but they're not stopping. A few seconds later, there's a loud roar as the predator throws the final Troodon into the front wall of the shack, and the Troodon's head lodges into the walls. We stare silently in fear at the hanging dead creature. Then, there's a growl, as the Troodon is slowly pulled off of the wall. We then hear what can only be the larger predator feasting on the spoils of it's victory. I then note...the hole in the wall above, where the Troodon's head was...it's fairly big. As the creature outside eats, we slowly move to the front wall and huddle down at it's base. The predator outside takes a moment from eating. We hear it getting closer to the house...until it's literally on the other side of the wall. I can hear it directly behind my head. Does it smell us? It sounds as if it shifts it's head as it investigates, then gives a loud exhale, the wind of which manages to penetrate through the thatch and brushes against Weiss's back. She shutters, but stays quiet. We hear it lifting it's head up. Soon, the light from the hole up top is blocked. It's looking through the hole into the shack. I look into the glass of the nearby oil lamp, seeing it's reflection. There we all are, huddled down at the base of the wall. Directly above us, an eye looks through the hole into the shack. The eye seems almost to be entirely an eerie white, but there's a darker gray, slit pupil in it. It looks around in the darkness of the shack before lowering it's head. We then hear it move of a bit, before feasting again on more carcasses.


	5. Chapter 4

I wake up, aching from last night. My back is still against the wall. We've all fallen asleep huddled at the base of the wall, where we were last night. I'm the first awake again. Ember shifts, feeling me awake, and this wakes up the others. None of us feel too terribly rested from last night. Yang's giving me an exhausted, relieved smile. "Hey sis..." she says "You alright?". I nod in response. "My throat's very sore, though." I reply in a hoarse voice "I'm alright, though".

"God...i just want...ONE easy day...please..." Weiss groans. "Just one...peaceful night...".

We all slowly stand, aching in pain. We unlock the door and head outside. The whole area has been trampled due to the fight last night, but the firepit is still there. I turn to the house and survey the damage with Blake and Yang. "So..." I ask "Repairable?..."

"Despite the obvious thrashing on the thatching..." Yang says, and we groan "...it's not too bad. I'd say we can fix it".

Blake turns and sees Weiss staring into oblivion. "What's up, Weiss?" she asks. Weiss slowly raises her hand and points towards the bushes we decided to leave for farming "It's right there".

We then see what she's pointing at. A large, black back lying in the bushes. There's a single row of spikes down it. Weapons drawn, we slowly approach it. It's definitely the carnivore from last night. It's a medium-sized bipedal dinosaur, at least 20 ft long. It's back is black, with a gray underside. Stripes of a different gray are run vertically down it's sides. Two arms with four claws each, with a head boasting sharp teeth and...sharp horns. One horn above each eye, another above the nose. The horns are serrated, and they and the beast's mouth still have dried blood on them from last night. It's fast asleep, probably being nocturnal, like the Troodons. Eyeing it from a safe distance, I make out "Wild Male Cerato – Lvl 43 -". "Cerato?..." Blake says thoughtfully in a low tone "...Ceratosaurus. That's another one I remember from my books". I take a careful step forwards, stepping on a small branch that snaps under my foot. Immediately, the Ceratosaurus lifts it's head and looks directly at me with tired eyes. I freeze solid, as do the others...yet, like the Baryonyx, he seems fine with us...I look back at the others, and then back at the creature groggily staring back at me. It probably recognizes our scents from last night. Slowly, I take a piece of meat out of my inventory and hold it out. It's attention goes from the me to the meat in my hand. I get onto my knees, and slowly approach it, being incredibly careful as the others watch on. The dinosaur stares at me and my meat, before slowly taking it out of my hand, swallowing it, then continuing to groggily stare at me. I can see...that he appears to be a passive tame. "I think as long as it's during the day..." I state low "He's passive...i mean, look at him". The ceratosaurus, meanwhile, is staring at me with a look that says "either feed me more or I go back to sleep". I give it another piece of meat, which it takes, then lays it's head back down, attempting to sleep anyway. I use my implant to view it's own inventory, and I take the few pieces of raw meat I have on me and put them in it's own inventory. "That's all I have." I say. "Eight pieces...don't know why I slept with those on me...huh?" I'm staring at my inventory in tired disbelief. "Wow I'm slow..."

"Why's that, sis?" Yang asks.

"I've still got the spyglasses, and wooden foundations, walls, and roofing from the beacon I looted yesterday, when I went on Ember to get water...man, no wonder I feel so weighed down..."

My sister chuckles. "Well, at least you've found some stuff. Did you have enough of those spyglasses to go around?..."

"Huh?...yeah...here." I take them out of my inventory and hand them out. I then notice...Ember's not here. I look over to see her lying on the ground near the firepit weakly, with Ozpin looking over her. My heart skips a beat. "E...Ember?!"

She looks up, stands, then slowly walks over to me, and lies down next to me. She's looking right at me. Her eyes are strained, and she seems tired. On top of that, there's copious amounts of snot near around her nostrils. "Is it just me...or does she look sick?" Weiss says, kneeling next to her. I put my head on Ember's forehead out of instinct, and she feels hot. Just then, she sneezes in my face. Yang busts out laughing and I slowly wipe the snot off my face. "Ember..." I say. "You're not feeling good, are you?" I stroke her head carefully. "Looks like she has a cold or something." Blake notes "She should be fine with plenty of rest, but we need to start the day".

"Right..." I reply, helping Ember to her feet with Weiss's help. We then notice another beacon coming down on the rock, which Yang volunteers to go and loot. Blake stays near the taming Ceratosaurus, who's out cold like a rock. Weiss and I lead Ember inside, where it's cooler. Weiss then does something quite kind for her to do. She lets Ember lie on her sleeping bag, and rest her head on it's pillow. Using some leftover fiber, we make a decent blanket large enough for one of us to use, but we drape it gently over Ember. I stroke her head. "Hey, it's OK. You sleep right here, alright? I'm not going to leave you, OK?"

Ember gives a low, pitiful noise in response. Weiss and I get up, and fetch some more meat from the preserving bin, and take it outside. We plan on giving it to the Ceratosaurus. Upon getting outside, we find Yang back, and setting up a second fire with a cooking pot near our standard campfire. "Was that in the Beacon?" I ask.

"Yeah, it was. These too" she says, holding up what appear to be mint and tea leaves. "There were some seeds for mint and tea, too".

"You don't say?..." Weiss notes. "Yang, do me a favor?"

"Depends".

"I think I can make a nice brew of tea for everyone with that. It could definitely help you with your throat, Ruby." she says looking at me "as well as perhaps help Ember sleep better. I just need some berries from the bushes over there".

"Oh, no prob! I guess you wanna get the fire started and water boiling, eh?"

"Yeah, it would help".

With that, Weiss heads over to the cooking pot and Yang walks over with me to the Ceratosaurus. Ozpin is with Blake now, who is on her knees, looking right into Ozpin's eyes. She nods, and he gives a hoot, before turning and galloping off. "Did you send him out for some hunting?" I ask. Blake turns and nods "Yes. I'm confident he'll return. Your throat feeling any better?"

"not really..." I squeak. "But it will soon, I hope." I put the meat I have for the Ceratosaurus in his inventory. He's taming along nicely. Yang plucks a few blue, red, and purple berries for Weiss, and brings them over to her. Weiss has poured the remaining water from her waterskin into the pot, and it's already started to boil. She adds in the mint and tea leaves just as Yang walks up with the needed berries. "Just what I was thinking." Weiss said, taking a few narcoberries she's had in her inventory, and dropping them into the pot "with these for a bit of relaxation...hopefully it works out good".

"Hey, I've never made clothes before in my life". Yang says, handing over the berries to Weiss, who adds in the needed amounts "but they turned out good, right?"

"True. This will take a moment. Maybe we can make use of those wooden building materials Ruby has in the meantime".

"Ah, true. I'll do that". Yang stands and walks over to me, half-asleep on the Ceratosaurus. "Ey you." she says. "Can I borrow those wooden walls and stuff real quick?"

"Eh?...yeah...here." I say halfheartedly, selecting them in my inventory, and then using "drop item" without second thought. It spawns a cloth-wrapped box, strangely enough. Yang pauses a moment, then grabs it. The second she touches it, it disappears, and the items are in her inventory. She looks at me, but I've got a groggy look that just says "I know it's weird: but I don't care". She smiles, then walks over to where we know the general gist of our house to be. Upon selecting a foundation, then "Use item", she can make out a green outline of the foundation. She quickly catches on to what this means. Getting it to where she wants it to be, she merely seems to confirm to herself that's where she wants it, and it suddenly spawns right there. Yang smiles, and does similarly, laying down four wooden foundations, and putting up eight walls, making a small corner of the the eventual, larger structure. She takes a step back, imagining it when it's done. "Looks...promising!" she says, smiling. "Now...all we need is the right materials, and I'd say we've got ourselves a REAL home!"

Meanwhile, Blake looks over at me. "What about a name for this guy?" she says, gently stroking the ceratosaurus's snout. I eye her. "I don't know...maybe Night Knight".

She stares at me. "Really. You'd drop that pun?"

"I don't know. Brain hurts right now. Not thinking straight. Gimme a break. At least that's what we can use him for, right? Have him wander this area, while we are asleep?"

"True...howabout Nightshade?"

"Nightshade?...i guess so." I say smiling groggily "It works, and I like it".

Blake continues to watch over Nightshade as I continue to try and rest. Due to last night, as well as my throat, I don't feel like saying or doing much. A few minutes later, a strange, pleasant smell is what gets my attention. It's coming from Weiss's cooking pot. I shamble over and sit on my knees next to her. "Smells done..." I squeak low, eager to taste it. Blake walks over after me, and Yang walks back out from inside the hut. Weiss gives an uneasy look "Smells ready...and as far as I can tell it is...but...well, I don't really know. First time I've made tea...so I don't really know if it'll be any good or not. I might think it's good, but in reality you-"

"I'm not really caring if it tastes good or not. I just want something other than water to drink right now." I reply. Weiss nods "alright...but if it tastes bad or-"

"I won't blame you." I say, finishing her sentence. There's been five stone cups we've received with this cooking pot. Weiss takes one and carefully fills it with the air-cleansing, brown liquid. She hands me the cup, which I take in both hands. I take a few sniffs, and I can feel my nose opening up. Just the vapor alone seems to make me breathe better. I blow over the top a few times, then bring the cup to my lips, and take a slight sip. The minute the liquid crosses my lips, my eyes widen. What started as a small sip turns into a larger one as I gulp down what I've drank. "So...is...is it good?" Weiss asks me. I lower the cup from my mouth and look directly at her. "...Dang Weiss" I say, my voice normal now "I don't know what you've made, but this is ridiculously good!" The others are wide-eyed at me. "How's...your voice, sis?" Yang asks. "Fine as you can probably hear" I say "My throat isn't dry anymore either...and I'm not tired. I feel like I slept great last night. Honest!".

Blake and Yang look over at Weiss, who's returning their look of shock. "...I don't know what you've made, Weiss..." Yang says "But you better hook me and Blake up with some of that tea".

Weiss smiles. "Sure. I think we all deserve some" she begins to pass full cups to Blake and Yang, before getting one for herself. I take a small sip of my own tea, then get an idea. I quickly stand, then walk back inside the house. Ember's still lying sick on top of Weiss's sleeping bag. As I approach her, she looks up groggily at me. I kneel next to her, and stroke the top of her head with my right hand. "Hey girl..." I say "Try some of this for me, OK? It should make you feel much better".

I bring the cup to Ember's snout. She sniffs it, then opens her mouth for me to pour the tea into her mouth. She tilts her head back as I do so. I've poured the rest of my cup out for her. A few seconds later, she stands up slowly, gives a contented growl and a short shake, before looking at me. Her eyes seem completely fine, and there's a lot less snot around her nose now. I stand, smiling "I told you that would work. Don't you feel better?" I pet her snout as she nuzzles me, and I take the blanket off of her and set it near the sleeping bag. We head back outside, Ember following behind me. Blake smiles upon seeing us "Seems like it worked. How's she feeling?"

"Doesn't look like it cured her, but she's much better. I'd say it's just a light cold right now, in comparison to what she originally had...that was scary".

"As long as she's OK now, right sis?" Yang comforts me. I nod in response "Now, that aside...what do we do today? I think the first order of business is to patch up the shack..."

"That can be done." Blake says. "We've got to stick around until Nightshade tames up, as well...but I'm growing disgusted at the smell I've got coming off my own body". With that last utterance, the rest of us take a quick moment to actually sniff ourselves...we're not too excited with our own smells, either. Weiss shudders "Dinosaur island apocalypse or not, I can't stand smelling like this for much longer. I say we go put the river to good use".

"Not a bad idea..." I say "but let's go in turns. That way, we still have people here".

"Fair enough..." Weiss replies "Guess you go on down first".

"Alright...guess I'll go on Ember, in case anything happens".

"And we'll start working on fixing up the house here!" Yang replies, and the others agree. I head back inside, fetching Ember's saddle from a storage box. As I do so, the others come inside as well. Blake carefully climb up the wall using the interior scaffolding to the damaged areas. Yang and Weiss start handing her materials as she begins to tear down the unrepairable parts. I head back outside, saddle up on Ember, and ride down to the river. Once there, I take a quick look around the area. No other creature is here except for Ember and me. This said, I dismount her and head to the shore of the river. I take a quick look around before taking off my hide clothing, then everything else, then diving head-first into the water. It's still just as warm as it was yesterday. After soaking in the water, I begin to actually try and wash myself down. Looking around in the water, there are some coelocanth, but nothing else. One sends a massive chill down my spine as it brushes my back, catching me off guard. I scrub myself down as best I can using my bare hands. After around ten minutes, I step back out of the water and use a piece of cloth I brought to dry off. I then start putting my clothes back on. Just as I'm sliding my hide shirt over my makeshift bra, nearby bushes move. I quickly look that way and focus on that area. I don't know why, but at first, my initial instinct is some sort of peeping tom...I'm both embarrassed as well as angry. With my clothes on, I take out my bow and a stone arrow from my quiver, loading my bow. I whistle Ember to follow behind me as I carefully get close to the moving bushes. My initial idea of a peeping tom slowly begins to fade. If it was one of the others, it might be my sister, but I'm fairly confident even she wouldn't want to get accidentally shot with an arrow. If it were a person, the bushes should have stopped moving. As I get about 20 ft away, I see something...just behind the bush, to the slight right, a large ant, about as big a small dog. It's dead. Seeing the jaws on the ant, it must be some sort of carnivore. Just then, the ant is dragged back behind the bush. I ready my bow, and then a head pops up above the bush. Atop a decently-lengthed, feathered neck, is a head vaguely similar to the head of a raptor. Sharp teeth line the outer edges of the feather-less head. Above it's eyes and down the middle of it's head are two tall crests. The scales of the creature are a tan color, but the crests are two-toned red and blue. The eyes are red, and the creature's feathers are also blue and red. At it's neck, there is also a hanging flap of skin. The creature's holding a dead "Titanomyrma" as I can make them out somehow, in it's jaws. The ant it holds, however, has wings. The creature's size is slightly larger than Ember. It's got a medium-length tail ending in four long, red feathers coming off the tip. It's staring right at Ember and I...but it's not aggressive. Just curious, like I am eyeing this oddball of a creature. Ember seems fine with it, so I put my bow and arrow away. It keeps staring at me, swallows the ant in it's jaws, then looks at me more. It then lowers it's head back down, and I hear what sounds like it to be eating more ants. A couple seconds later, it lift it's head up again, then gives it's head a shake and bob. It's making strange, somewhat high-pitched, birdlike sounds, despite looking like a kind of dinosaur. I haven't seen it's arms this whole time...until it raises them. They aren't arms, but arms that appear similar to dragon-like wings. The fingers flare out to make the outer edges of it's wings, and the support themselves. It flares out it's wings a bit, as if stretching. It's arms aren't feathered, but scaled, and the wings are a similar blue color, but with two red-and-yellow eyespots on each wing. I would guess if it flared out it's wings at me, the pattern could vaguely resemble a large face. It's back legs are feathered only on it's thighs, remaining scaled the rest of the way down, and ending in eagle-like feet. It's chest is deep, probably to help support flight muscles. I continue to stare at it in awe of what I can only describe to be some sort of strange, living wyvern. It then begins to seemingly preen it's right wing, keeping a careful, curious eye on me. Something suddenly hits me, then. I check my inventory. I don't have any berries, but I've got a handful of different seeds. Taking them out, I hold a pile of seeds out in my hand in it's direction. It stops preening it's wing and looks my way, at my outstretched hand. It steps forwards slowly, a little weary, out of the bushes and directly in front of me. It looks at me and my outstretched hand before finally bending down and lapping up the seeds in one go with it's tongue. I giggle at the ticklish feeling. I can now make out this creature as a level 64 Male "Yi". Yi? Kinda funny name, if I do say so myself. I chuckle a little more at this thought as it swallows the seeds, then bobs it's head a bit and gives two calls as if to say "you're alright. I like you". Unfortunately, that's all I've got on me at the moment. I back up, smiling at it, and climb onto Ember, all this time it watches me. I begin to turn Ember back up the hill, and then look back at the Yi. It shakes it's head once, gives a call, then turns up the hill itself. It fans out it's wings and begins running decently fast, comparable to Ember. Once it's ran about 100 ft, it leaps into the air and flaps it's wings, taking to the sky just like a living wyvern. It gives off a few calls as it ascends, circles around once, then heads off deeper into the island. I'm left feeling a sense of awe of some sort, and begin heading back up to the hut. As Ember and I ride back in, I see the others just putting the finishing touches on the hut's repairs. I dismount Ember and my sister turns and sees me. "Hey there sis!" she says. "You still stink?"

"Nope." I say "The river works. Best we'll have for now, I think".

"Great!" Weiss says, relieved. "I'll go down next...if I don't I might just go crazy".

"You already ARE crazy". Yang replies. Weiss gives a huff at this as the rest of us laugh a bit. Suddenly I remember my recent encounter. "Oh yeah" I said "I met something down there".

"You met something down at the river?" Blake asks.

"Yeah." I reply "Something I haven't seen before. Blake, do you know anything about a 'Yi'?"

"Yi?..." Blake pauses a moment. "In a short article I read online, yeah. It's a small dinosaur with arms that evolved into gliding membranes. Around a foot long, and lived in trees".

"Oh cool, so they're like little dragons, eh?" Yang asks.

"Basically" Blake replies.

"That's cool. Nice to know we got those little guys running around. Would be nice to get one as a little pet, hm?"

"It's just that." I say. "He wasn't a 'little guy': he was bigger than Ember by a few feet".

"Wait, what?" Blake said. "Are you sure it wasn't a pterosaur of some sort?"

"It was standing on it's back legs." I said "And it ran before it started flying. Note I said FLYING, not gliding".

"That's..." Blake was in deep thought "...I'd say improbable, but knowing the ARK here...some people were writing speculative papers online for fun about how something like a wyvern could be possible if Yi hadn't died out, if Yi developed powered flight. How'd you run into it?"

"When I was putting on my clothes I heard and saw nearby bushes moving. When I went to investigate, I found him eating some giant ants I think he killed."

"Giant ants?" Weiss said with a bit of reluctance.

"Yeah, they were about as big as Zwei...who I really miss".

"Me too, sis." Yang says. Blake's still in thought. "Yi and it's relatives were thought to have eaten insects, fruits, and seeds. Knowing how big the insects and other arthropods-"

"Arthrowha?" I ask

"Arthropods. Basically the fancy word for bugs".

"Oh."

"Yes. Again, knowing how big the scorpions and other arthropods of the islands seem to be, Yi might have evolved bigger to hunt bigger prey."

"Yeah, he looked like he could tussle with somebody..." I note "Looked as strong, if not a bit stronger, than Ember".

"I wanna find that thing and ride it now!" Yang said. "It's basically a dragon! I want a dragon!"

"It went of flying deeper inland" I tell my sister. "Deeper into Cragg's Island. Maybe when we're done here we can go out and try to find him?"

We agree to this. Weiss gathers what she needs for bathing and heads down on her own, keeping some materials in case things get hairy. I help out Yang and Blake at the house for a bit. Around the same length of time I was gone, Weiss comes back relieved and rejuvenated. She confirms my story, having found the ant remains and footprints of the Yi herself. Just as she finishes saying this, Nightshade finishes taming, according to our implants. We look over only to see him still asleep. Can't blame him: he's nocturnal, after all. Yang goes down for her turn to bathe next, as well as check out the evidence of the Yi through what it's left. I don't know about that thing. For some reason...i feel it to be really rare, or really special. Maybe because it's basically a living dragon! We've hatched the idea to do some hunting and gathering while we're out, so we begin to prepare for as such. Blake's the only one left to go and bathe in the river. Once she comes back, we'll be good to go.

Yang comes back soon enough from bathing in the river. Once again, she confirms what Ruby's told us. I might as well take a look myself while I'm down there. Having everything I need, I take the walk down the hill to the river. Once at the river, I decide to check the evidence out first. Heading over to where Ruby said the creature was, there's indeed giant bug parts scattered around on the coastal forest floor. I then look towards the hill. In the ground, I can indeed make out several footprints. Three toes in the front, and another one in the back. This isn't like the Yi I've read about. They only have three standard toes, not bird-like feet. This is definitely strange, but that's enough for now. I head down to the same rock everybody else has been laying their clothes on, and undress, before heading into the water myself. There are coelocanth as usual, but nothing too major. Yet...I've got a strange feeling. Normally when we were down here last, we could hear the seagulls nearby...but I barely hear any of them. My instincts tell me something isn't right. I decide I need to make this quick, but thorough. It takes me just about five minutes to completely wash up: but even still, I feel like I've taken too long. I swim back over to shore and the rock where my equipment is. I quickly dry off as fast as I can and put on my underclothing. I finish putting my top on and reach for my hide pants. Just then, there's a sound of a something bursting from the water behind me, followed by a vicious roar. I don't even look over my shoulder to see what it is. In a quick reflex, I activate my semblance to leave a copy of myself while I dash forwards and grab my bow and quiver. I turn around to see the animal taking the bait. It's looking around frantically as to where it's prey has gone. I don't know exactly what this is, but it looks like a large, white crocodile. Just under 20ft long, but not your standard albino crocodile. It's legs are much longer, comparable to that of a big cat, and it's head is vicious, with a ferocious set of fangs. It's eyes red, and the right side of it's face having three red slash marks across it, primarily, across it's eye. I note "Wild Male Kaprosuchus – lvl 56 -" In instinct, I pull out a sedative arrow and fire. My shot isn't the best, hitting it in it's left shoulder. This brings it's attention back to me. It gives a hiss then roar, and bounds towards me with incredible speed. I manage to give off another successful shot before I have to use my semblance again to trick it. Once again in it's confusion, I give off three successful shots into it. It hisses at me and bounds at me again. Where do I go now? I remember that near the rock with the rest of my clothing...there's a much larger one I can use for a vantage point. I bolt as fast as I can and jump to the top of the rock quite easily. The Kaprosuchus bounds after me and leaps up at me, but it can't exactly get up to me. It turns back around a bit before charging and jumping at the rock again, still short. I take this moment and fire another shot. It does attempts to jump up four more times. During this period, I give off five more shots: one one on the third attack missing. The Kaprosuchus has no signs of slowing down. Are my arrows even doing anything? It comes in again much faster this time, but to my shock, uses the rock with my clothes on it as it's own vantage point. In a flash, It's jaws are snapping in my face as it's front arms claw at the rock, trying to haul itself up. My adrenaline levels are immense. In a quick reflex, I fire off three shots in very quick succession, all to the face of my attacker. To my relief, this does the trick. It's movements slow as it fails to try and clamber atop the rock. Then it slides back down to the ground due to it's weight, landing on it's back. It rolls over slowly, takes a few steps away from the rock as if to either run away or charge again, looking over it's right shoulder at me, then drops to the ground. It's out. Quickly, I leap down from my rock and put on my clothes. I rush up to it. It's torpor is going down fairly quickly. I have five pieces of meat on me from feeding Nightshade earlier, but that's all I've got. I quickly put those in it's inventory and run over to the nearby bushes, plucking off every narcoberry I can find. I gather fifty in about twenty seconds and dash back over to the unconscious crocodilian. It's torpor is still depleting. I put those into it's inventory and force-feed them to it. It's got two pieces of meat left. In reflex I dash to the riverside and pull out a stone arrow, aiming it at the closest coelocanth, and fire. It's a one-shot kill, and apparently killing the Coelocanth earns me it's dossier. I don't have time to pay attention to read it, and quickly haul my kill ashore, and start cutting off large chunks from the dead fish, gaining ten good pieces of meat. I put them in the Kaprosuchus's inventory just as the last two pieces I use run out. Then I dash back to the bushes and start gathering more berries. It turns into a cycle that seems to last for an hour. Berries, feed. Fish, feed. Then back again. I'm gathering from the bushes on the fifth time when suddenly I hear a voice. "Hey! Blake!" I turn to see Ruby waving at me. She's dashing down the hill atop Ember, and she pulls up to me in seconds. "Are you alright? You were taking a really long time, we were starting to get worried. Then when we suddenly got the coelocanth dossier we thought something was up. I got on Ember as fast as I could, you're ok right?!"

"I'm fine, don't worry about me." I say "Just need some help with him, please." I dash around and behind her and Ember towards the Kaprosuchus, who Ruby now notices. "Oh snap!" Ruby says in shock as she gets off Ember and runs over to me. "Where'd you find him?!"

"In the river we were bathing in, actually". I say forcing the Kaprosuchus to take the narcoberries. Surprisingly, I'm still at 100% taming effectiveness. "Wait, you're serious?" Ruby says, looking out into the river.

"Apparently" I reply. "He jumped me as I was putting my clothes back on. I've had trouble feeding him and keeping him out cold, so if you could-"

"Got ya, gotcha." she quickly replies, checking her own inventory. "I've got some narcotics on me anyway. These should ease your workload." She force-feeds the Kaprosuchus only two narcotics, and it makes a drastic difference. I sigh relieved, as she then takes some spare meat from Ember and puts it on the Kaprosuchus. I collapse into a propped sitting position and sigh once again. "Heh...thank you." I say. Ruby walks over to me and kneels next to me. "Hey, it's ok. What's a team leader and friend for, hm?" she smiles encouragingly at me, which I return. She helps me back up. "Here..." she says, taking a few narcotics out of her inventory and giving them to me. "Keep an eye on him. I'll get the others, alright?"

I nod. "Yeah, thank you. Really."

She smiles again. "Well, really, I already told you. It's no big deal...we're gonna have quite a few close calls here. Just count on us as usual and we'll get through them just fine."

I agree with her, and she mounts Ember again and dashes towards the hill and back home. I manage to now relax with ease, finally sitting next to my tame. It's a vicious creature for sure, and it's scars tell a definite story. I can't tell if the slash mark across it's eye is from tooth or claw, but it seems to have been made in self-defense. Perhaps prey he jumped one time fought back. I look at the eye that's been slashed. It's not blind, and can still see: it's looking directly at me. I note several other scars on it's body. Although they've healed over time, and are very slight, and cannot be seen easily. "...Bad past, eh?" I say. "Me too...I've got scars as well...but not anywhere on my body. All here" I point to my head. It continues to stare at me. "You've got physical scars..." I continue "I've got mental ones...I'd say you're the lucky one of us. You don't have to worry about guilt or conscience...i think both of us are going to get along fine". It gives a low hiss. I don't know why I'm trying to have a full-on conversation with a crocodile...must either be trying to calm myself down, the fact I'm slowly going insane...or maybe I'm trying to do what Ruby did with Ember. I lean closer "You're quick on your feet. I bet you're quick in the water, too. I need somebody like you as a new partner. I've got my teammates like Ruby who you met...but I need something like what she's got her Raptor. Surely you saw something between her and Ember, right? I think we can have something like that. Trust me...if you'll just give me a chance..." I slowly hold up my hand, and begin to slowly bring it to the Kaprosuchus "you and I will become quite strong...and we'll bond very well..." I put my hand on the back of it's head, and it seems fairly relaxed. I then look at the scar over it's eye. "You've got enough scars" I state. "You...need no more. I'll take a scar in your place if I need to. No more scars, alright?"

I stay with it, and soon Ruby rides back down with Weiss and Yang following. Both of them are quite surprised and impressed at the beast I've managed to knock out. "Heh, nice going Blake." Yang says grinning from ear to ear "He looks freaking badass".

"Thank you." I state. Weiss is also looking over my tame. "Sorry it took a bit longer than you might have thought..." she states. "We thought about getting the needed materials for a possible saddle. Yang and Ruby took a moment to make some Cementing Paste, as Ruby learned the saddle engram for you".

I smile appreciatively at Ruby "once again, you've got my thanks. You really do".

"Eh, it's nothing" Ruby says, still atop Ember "though we were worried, because we didn't know if we had enough hide for the job: and we didn't. Luckily, though, a little bird came around and gave us just the right amount we needed."

"A little bird?" I ask. Just then, she leans to the left a little, and reveals Ozpin sitting behind her atop Ember, who leaps down off of her. I smile as he walks over to me,and around my Kaprosuchus. I stroke the back of his head. "Just in time, aren't you, old man?" he gives a hoot in response at me. We then get to work while keeping my tame calm and under sedation. We measure him from snout to tail tip using our arms and other rough measurements: he's 15ft 6 inches, approximately. We get to work making a saddle as best we can. It's similar to how Weiss and Ruby made the saddle for Ember, but we use the cementing paste for waterproofing and holding certain parts together. We finish it in around 10 minutes, working together. I'm sitting on the right side of my tame, stroking it's head. Weiss looks at me with a supportive smile "So, Blake. What's his name?"

"I came up with it rather quickly." I state, looking at his head. "And I think you'll know why I named him as such: White Fang."

They all look at the scar across his eye. Yang gives a smug grin "That there's how you name something awesome like that. Make it personal! With meaning!"

I shake my head at this. "It was purely because of the scar." I state "although there might be other motives. I'm not too sure myself, yet". Then, White Fang suddenly gets up and stretches with a growl. He's mine now. I smile as the others cheer for me. White Fang looks directly at me and lets me hold his head in my hands and pet him. "Guessing you're ready to see if I can live up to what I've promised, hm?" I tell him, and he seems to hiss in response. "Alright" I reply "just need a moment of your cooperation, then".

With help from Ruby, Weiss, and Yang, I get the saddle equipped onto White Fang. I take a step back and admire the look. He seems to like it, himself. He seems to walk in a short circle, taking a few pauses, as if to test it out himself. Then it's my turn to take it for a test. I walk up beside him, then sling myself over and onto the saddle on his back. It's not the same as the saddle for Ember. White Fang's saddle doesn't have foot-catches. He supports me just fine. I then ride him around for a moment. First a walk, then gradually working up to a sprint. He's quite fast despite his size, and quite agile. Just like he did earlier, I direct him onto the smaller rock, then the larger one, and this time, with my help, he climbs it MUCH easier, as we stand atop it together, me on his back. The others give cheers of approval, and I can feel it now...that same feeling Ruby felt. I check my implant, and sure enough, I can level up tremendously. I decide to do that, continuing to keep my stats balanced. As I level up White Fang, I also get his health to 1500, like Ruby did for Ember, as well as double his stamina. His weight was already 240, so I didn't need to up that too much. Lastly, I put the last bit into his attack, and some into his speed. He's got 180% movement speed and 947% melee damage. I'm very pleased with how it works out. We climb down off the rock, and then I decide to try his amphibious characteristics. I direct him into the water, and he heads in easily, and swims around with me atop his back. It's not deep enough for him to completely submerge us both, so he cruises around the water's surface. I decide to head to where this small river meets the ocean, near the base of the cliff. The others follow us as I direct White Fang downstream. As he swims along, White Fang successfully catches and kills a coelocanth in his jaws and devours it, satisfying his hunger from leveling so much. We pause at the mouth of the river. "Hey Blake!" I hear Ruby holler. I look back to see her waving from still atop Ember. "Stay safe! We already know of one certain thing that lives out there, you know!"

"C'mon now, partner!" Yang calls out "As good of an idea as it is to test it out, don't go out too deep. Who knows what else other than those sharks are out there. We'd better not loose you, now!"

"I'll be careful." I reply to them both, before looking down at White Fang and into the water. He seems to take the shallower ocean just fine. I nod "Alright, White..." I say "Let's go". I give a slight tug of his reigns and whistle. He bends his back as he begins to descend into the water. Just as the water gets to the top of my chest, I take one large inhale of air as I quickly submerge. We're underwater now, and White Fang floats, awaiting my order. I figure it must be somewhat hard for him to swim with me on him like this. I let go of his body with my legs and begin to float, grabbing onto the front part of where I sit on the saddle, but with the reigns still in my hands. This should be much more hydrodynamic for him. I give another tug of the reigns as we begin to explore the reefs, staying in the vicinity of the river's mouth. We slowly approach the drop-off...the cliff goes down for a VERY long ways. I quickly scan the area and then note something...to the right further down on the cliff...there seems to be what looks like a metal tunnel of some sort protruding out of the cave wall. It's as if the metal was part of some sort of walkway that gave in, and was flooded with water. Just as I note this, a familiar shape swims out from behind the metal structure: another giant shark, which I know as Megalodon. In instinct, I pull quickly on White Fang's reigns, and he does a very quick U-turn back to shore, towards where the others are. Just as the water gets shallow enough, he leaps out of it- with me on his back- near the other members of the team. As he's airborne, I shift myself back into proper land-riding position. "So, how'd it go?" Weiss asks.

"Well, saw one of those Megalodons patrolling nearby, that's what sent me in." I said, wiping my face "but other than that, quite well. The reefs looked beautiful from what I could tell, but were still cloudy to me. I can see in the dark, not underwater".  
"Yeah, we know." Yang says. "You're a cat, not a catfish".

I burrow my eyes directly into hers for a few moments. "...either way" I say "i did note something strange. There's what looks like a metal tunnel of some sort sticking out of the cliff side of the drop-off, ...it looks different then what the obelisks are made of, and it looks...man-made".

"So there's a metal,man-made structure underwater?" Weiss asks. I nod in response slowly. "Alright then". Ruby says "We need to remember it's here. That way when we get better aquatic tames, we can go down and check it out. It might have something of use". We agree to this, then begin to head back to our homestead, through the many rocks at the base of the cliff, back up the river, then up the hill.


	6. Chapter 5

Blake and I now have mounts. That just leaves Yang and Weiss to get their own. We stop back at our house and dismount Ember and White Fang. "Are we confident we want to leave these two here?" I ask. "Well, I guess it's for sake of fairness to those who have to walk" Blake replies "besides, Ember's still not 100% healed, so she can rest here with White Fang to watch out for her". We all agree to this and stock up on items and equipment inside before heading back out. It's just after noon, now. We decide to head back to the river once again, this time, to try our luck at some safe fishing. Once back down the hill, Weiss and I wade out into the water to try our luck catching food, while Yang and Blake work on a campfire to cook the food. Weiss uses a spear, wielding it above her head, and using her free hand to aim her throw. I try using my bow and arrow, tracking fish within the water. Weiss and I strike at almost the exact same time. Both are aims are true, as Weiss spears a coelocanth directly in the center of its flank, while I manage to shoot my own in it's head. Weiss bends down into the water and retrieves her spear, reward still attached to the end. I grab my own kill, and we both take them to Blake and Yang, who've got the fire already roaring. Our fish are around two feet long each, good meals, as far as we can tell. We leave Blake to cook them as Yang joins us by the river again, trying her own hand at spearfishing. Blake gets to work on the coelocanth, skinning them down except for their head and tail tip, tearing off the fins to make them easier to eat, I suppose. She skewers them in the mouth with sharp sticks, and begins carefully cooking the first two catches of the day. After around five minutes, they look pretty cooked. Yang, Weiss, and I walk over just in time to see Blake take a coelocanth off the fire. "So" I ask her "What do you think?"

"Can't...tell exactly..." she says, holding the fish horizontally in front of her "smells good, though. Although, just because something smells good doesn't mean it tastes good or is safe...". She carefully looks over the cooked meat of the fish within her hands. Slowly, she raises the fish to her mouth and sinks her teeth into the meat. Her eyes suddenly widen and her pupils shrink. The others and I are taken back a second. "Blake?" I ask "are...you alright? Is it ok?!"

She slowly moves her mouth back away from the cooked fish, and begins to slowly open her mouth, as if to say something. Suddenly, she begins wildly devouring the fish in an animalistic frenzy. The others and I burst into laughter at this. "Dossier said that the meat was good, but I didn't expect it to be THAT good!" Yang says, not even bothering to keep a straight face. Realizing my own hunger, I reach out to grab the other fish on the fire. At the last possible second, Blake snatches it out right from under me and starts tearing into both fish at the same time. Yang laughs even harder, holding her stomach and falling onto her side, proceeding to kick her legs a few times. She's dying from this, I know she is. We spend about an hour and a half cooking fish, catching more, and eating our lunch. At the end of it all, Blake's on her back in a semi-comatose state because of how much she's stuffed herself, and Yang's still dying from the whole thing. "I want one for the road, please" Blake says raising her right arm a bit, before it collapses back onto the dirt. Yang can't breathe or keep a straight face. Weiss huffs "don't be lazy! Get your own!"

"Can't. Can't move."

"Then you shouldn't have eaten so much!"

"Couldn't help it. It tasted too good."

"Then you should have more self-restraint!"

"Sorry, I don't even know what that is right now".

"Oh leave the happy fat cat alone!" Yang bursts out. She's been dying this whole time still. Originally, she was standing like Weiss and I, but she's keeled over again and is flailing with laughter on the ground. Weiss looks at me, and sees me trying to hold back my own laughter. Seeing this, Weiss can't hold it in either. She gives a snort, and then Weiss and I loose it. Blake looks over to her left, seeing the firepit. There is one more cooked coelocanth on a stick, just for her. She weakly reaches for it with her left hand, to no avail. She's so lazy right now she just sort of reaches into the air at it, before finally dragging herself closer using her one free arm. Her fingertips can just touch the stick. With a bit of fumbling, she manages to grab it. She holds the fish vertically on top of her stomach, and looks at it, her mouth still drooling. Just the sight of this fish reminds her of how good it tastes. She's staring at this fish in mesmerized awe, until a dark shadow suddenly appears over her face...it's a strange, elongated head blocking out the sun above her. The head is attached to, as far as she can see, a slightly elongated neck...that's looking at her fish. Suddenly, Blake turns very aggressive and defensive. She quickly brings the cooked coelocanth to her chest and bear-hugs it as if she were a child, and that fish her favorite stuffed animal. "NO!" She says angrily "MINE! GET YOUR OWN!" The creature slowly looks down at Blake...it's got a weird face, for sure. Blake then bears her teeth and hisses at it, and Yang dies even more. The creature simply responds by giving Blake a slow, wet, lick across the face, from her forehead to her chin. Blake closes her eyes as it does this, and she's angry at first, before her anger quickly turns to absolute confusion. The others and I laugh at this as Blake slowly rights herself to see exactly what she's staring at. The creature doesn't have an elongated neck...but a very elongated neck, taking up half the creature's body length. At around 6 meters long, that's one long neck! It's got a very short, stubby body, with four short legs, all of which are posed out to the side. The rest of the length is made up of a tail slightly longer than the rest of the creature's torso. From what we can see, it's a "Tanystropheus". It gives a low, strange, bellow-like call in Blake's face. Blake isn't pleased with it's breath, which reeks of fish, and waves her hand in front of her face, before pausing a moment, breathing into her own hand, then sniffing it "...touche, Tany" she says. She puts the cooked fish away in her inventory, and stands as the Tanystropheus continues looking at her. "I didn't really mean to be mean..." Blake says "...but you're still not getting any fish. Not from me, at least". Seeing it will get no food from us, the Tanystropheus slowly turns towards our river and lumbers over, before waiting at the water's edge, and putting that long neck of it to good use. We watch it for a few moments as it does this, before Yang turns to me, having gotten a hold on herself. "Aiight, now, sis, about your dragon-buddy?"

"Oh, right! The Yi!" I say. I quickly look around "He was going...that way!" I pointed into the forest. "Just that way?" Weiss asks "You don't know anything else?"

"He flew above the treeline! I couldn't see anything else!" I say throwing my arms in the air "I just have a feeling he's still on the island, somewhere!"

"Well, let's go and find the thing then, sis!" My sister says, putting a hand on her hip and putting her hat back on her head. We agree to this, and then begin our forest trek in search of the Yi from earlier.

Sis insists she leads the way, oh well. The forest isn't too bad, and it's pretty on the inside. The coastal forest is full of air that carries the scent of the sea. It's perfectly calming, as well as nose-opening. After walking for about ten minutes, we come to a small clearing with a log in the center. On top of this log is a bug of sorts, around the size of a seagull. It's...strange, like a cross between a moth, dragonfly, and a grasshopper. We slowly walk up near it, until we're around 10 feet away. I try and use my spyglass to get a closer look at the green-and-brown insect. It's apparently called a "Permithone". "Permithone?" I ask "never heard of those".

"Well, for once, neither have I." Blake states "I know a slight bit about prehistory from what I've read, not a lot". We continue to look at the strange bug. It's just sitting there, apparently resting for some reason, feeling safe. Weiss smirks "free chitin, am I right?" she asks, and we nod in response. She pulls out a spear and holds it ready for a strike as she slowly creeps up behind the unsuspecting bug. She's within five feet of it, ready to attack. She raises her spear, and then suddenly jabs at it from above. I don't exactly know what happens next. Suddenly, there's an small explosion where Weiss was just standing. All I can see at first is the Permithone flying away at a blinding speed with dust coming off of it's abdomen at first, which ceases as it flees. The dust cloud is still there, and as it clears, so is Weiss, frozen mid-strike in shock. Ruby jumps up "HAH! I DIDN'T DO IT THIS TIME!" she says pointing at Weiss. Weiss remains in this posture, before she finally just falls backwards onto the ground. Suddenly, I put two and two together, and bust out laughing. Already on my knees, I grab my stomach and then proceed to punch the ground a few times. "Oh my god, it's a bug that farts explosions to protect itself." I say laughing. Weiss slowly sits back up "Why...did a bug...blow up...in my face..."

"...because that was ingenious." Blake replies.

"That I just got blown up?!"

"No, that defense mechanism, and the creature itself." She tells us. "I've got some sharp eyes. Just before the explosion, the Permithone shot out a black dust from it's abdomen, then used it's back legs by scratching them against it's abdomen. It was like clicking flint and steel together..."

"Wait, wait wait..." Ruby says. "Are you saying this thing...naturally produces gunpowder?!"

"I'm fairly confident. It's a brilliant adaptation too. The explosion damages and slows down the predator, while the insect itself uses the force of the explosion to gain a boosted launch for it's getaway. That's...I'm sorry for your situation, Weiss, but it's really a brilliant adaptation".

"Yeah...right" she says getting up, and rubbing her back. "So...if I kill them, kill them from a distance?"

"If you want to hunt them, yes. Although, I think I have an idea. I know we can all make Gunpowder now from combining sparkpowder and charcoal, but; what if we try and tame a permithone, allowing us to be able to harvest the gunpowder regularly, instead?"

"A Gunpowder farm?" I ask "That just about sounds like the most awesome thing I've heard in a long while".

"In theory it could substitute having to make copious amounts by ourselves." she replies. With that in mind, and making sure Weiss is alright, we continue onward through our trek in the woods, eventually coming to a hillside clearing...where there are a lot of really pretty flowers of various colors. Red ones, orange ones, yellow ones...there are flowers everywhere, on the ground, and in the trees. The whole area smells nice from all the flowers here, and Ruby bends down to pick a small red one from the ground, before putting it in her hair. "How do I look?" she asks with a smile. "Adorable" I reply. Ruby giggles with a wide smile hearing my response. I guess it's something to smile about granted our situation. Weiss turns towards some of the flowers hanging on nearby branches – white flowers - and sniffs them. "Wow...these...smell really good. I wonder if we could end up using them for something?"

"Bodywash, maybe?" Blake asks. I spy a few yellow flowers hanging on some nearby trees, and move over towards them. I take a sniff myself, and indeed...they do smell nice. Really nice. The aroma of the whole area puts us all at ease...then I hear something...it sounds like the buzzing of a bug flying near my ear. I swat it away, only to still hear the noise...it..isn't near my left ear...then..suddenly, the buzzing gets VERY loud incredibly quick, and there's a gust of wind behind me. I turn my head quickly only to see the open mandibles of a massive bug's mouth, and I scream. My team turns towards me...yet, the minute I turned around and screamed...the insect had a similar reaction. Startled, it suddenly flies backwards, then up into the sky at a 90 degree angle very quickly. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake run over to me. "Yang, are you ok?!" Ruby asks. I take a few hurried breaths "Y...yeah...i...swore it looked like it was trying to eat my head."

"N...nice graphic description." Weiss said. "What was that thing?"

"L...like I know...let's just get out of here."

Right as we go to leave, we hear the buzzing again. Soon enough, the giant insect appears out of the sky again, diving straight our direction... but not at us. Around 60 ft up near the trees, it turns, and then hovers near...yellow flowers. The insect itself is unlike anything I've seen. It's head vaguely resembles that of a dragonfly, as does it's wings and body shape...but the wingspan of the entire creature itself must be over 30 ft long. It's tail ends in a stinger similar to that of a scorpion's, as well. it has six legs; in front of them, a pair of vicious, sharp pincers. The whole creature is a strange black-and-purple color, with hard chitin armor. It grabs the branch with it's pincers...and starts eating the yellow flowers. I pause a moment, before then reaching behind myself and grabbing my some of my hair, and bringing it in front of me...Weiss and Ruby do similarly...while Blake takes an uneasy sigh of relief, noting that her hair color doesn't match any of the flowers. "I...if it even STARTED..." I say angrily "...well, let's just say we'd have quite a fair share of chitin".

"Y...yeah..." Weiss says "S...so...at least it...didn't mean to try and start eating your hair?..."

"It...DID flee from confrontation." Blake says, observing the feeding insect "as...long as we don't bother him, he shouldn't bother us."

"What is it anyway?" Weiss asks, to which Blake just shakes her head. Ruby takes out her spyglass and looks through it at the large bug. "It's a...Ogre Darner. Level 5." she states "and...i really think that he's ok. He wants flowers, not hair."

"I...guess." I say with a sigh of relief, before looking down, past Weiss...and seeing another Pulmonoscorpius coming up from behind her. "Shit, heads up!" I point behind Weiss, who turns, to see the charging scorpion about a hundred feet away. We pull out our bows, and I'm the first with my arrow on my string. Just as I go to fire, I hear a noise...then, there's a rush of wind as the Ogre Darner blasts down from above, stabbing the scorpion in the back with it's stinger, which pierces the back plating easily. At the same time, it's pincers grab the front and tail of the scorpion, and it lifts the scorpion of the ground a few feet. The scorpion writhes in pain, trying to fight back and struggle free, to no avail. About 50 ft off the ground, the Ogre Darner twists the scorpion slowly, and we can hear the popping and snapping of it's chitin, and the hissing of the scorpion's pain. Finally, the Ogre Darner drops it's helpless victim onto the ground, before landing on top of it, and starting to consume the dying insect. I...i can't help but think this is another one of the island's Jekyll-and-Hyde creatures...but Ruby's eyes widen. "Tarantula hawk..." she says low, with a big grin on her face. Weiss turns to her with a strange look " 'Tarantula hawk'?" she asks. "Yeah!" Ruby says "One of my friends back at Signal is really into bugs. It's his thing. One time, he was telling me about this really cool species of wasp called a Tarantula Hawk. Adults eat two things: flowers and Tarantulas, hence the name. They kill Tarantulas by stinging them with a paralyzing poison, before eating them alive." Ruby gets a strange face of excitement "A really cool and gnarly thing about them? He told me when females need to lay eggs, they tranquilize a tarantula or the like, take it to a burrow, then lay a few eggs on the spider's middle. Then, when the larva hatches, they burrow into the still living host and start eating them from the inside out, but they avoid the vital organs as long as they can, to keep the victim alive as long as possible."

Weiss's face...is perfect. It's a strange look of absolute confusion, as well as disgust, and showing that she's definitely creeped out by what Ruby just said. Blake just sort of...takes it in as new trivia. I smile, crossing my arms "Dang sis, that...does sound really cool, in a weird, gnarly way."

"Yeah...let's just be...happy we're not bugs." Weiss says with an uneasy voice. Blake looks towards the scorpion and Ogre Darner. "Wait..." she says "What...what if those two species are tamable?"

"Scorpions and Ogre Darners?" Ruby asks. Weiss shudders "Ok, Permithone I can understand, but, seriously: why the heck would we need those two?"

"Taming assistance." Blake replies. "We know from your experience that Pulmonoscorpius don't have venom, but tranquilizing venom. The Ogre Darner has similarly. As such, that's two different creatures that can help with taming. Plus, what if we needed to tame some sort of flying creature? With the Ogre Darner, it wouldn't be stuck to just assisting us on land like the scorpion, and could chase after whatever we were trying to tame. Do you get what I'm saying?"

"That...taming something monstrous like those two is definitely...beneficial!" Weiss says "At least, if you put it that way. Do...you think it's something that could be done?"

"Probably" Blake suggests "Although for a method of taming...maybe just try the usual first."

We...don't stay to watch the graphic demonstration the Ogre Darner was giving us of how it kills and eats a scorpion anymore. We continue on, back into the forest, looking for the Yi that my sister had seen. We trek for an even longer time, drinking water from our waterskins and eating on rationed meat as we go. I can't tell how long we've been traversing the forest now, and I definitely don't feel like I'm getting the exact lowdown of Crag's Island yet. We get to a slight clearing, with the trees above still blocking out the sky above...and Blake freezes. "What's wrong, Blake?" I ask. She looks around carefully, drawing her bow and an arrow "...we're not alone." she states. There...there's something in the foliage around us, moving...I draw a spear from my back, and before long, the four of us stand back-to-back, weapons drawn...it's dead quiet...All I can hear is slight movement around us. Suddenly, there's a roar and something jumps out of the bushes right at me...and whatever it is, it's BIG. I dodge out of the way and stab my spear into it's head with such force the spear snaps in half, but the creature still stands fine. The others have dodged the attack as well, and soon there's a flurry of motion. The creature is attacking all of us at once, and moving quite quickly, despite it's size. All I hear is the roaring of the creature and our own, primal roars in response as we attack back wildly. I send another spear into what I can make out as it's back, and then suddenly, there's teeth in my face. I uppercut the creature in it's lower jaw, and it reels back as the others attack it. Suddenly it leaps away from us, as if to distance itself...it's during this state I can see...it's a four-legged mammal, almost as big as an Ursa. It's fur is short, and body muscular, as it turns towards us, blood coming from several parts on it's body from our attacks. It's a level 54 male "Bear-dog"...which it really does look like. It's growling and bearing it's teeth at us aggressively as it slowly begins to circle around us, as if trying to find another opportunity for it to attack us. If we had our weapons, we'd tear this thing apart in seconds...but, we don't. It's not as care-free or easy. It growls once more, then shifts it's weight, before pouncing once again at us with a roar. I then hear a noise, and turn...Weiss is holding her spear in a way I've seen her do before. Just as the Bear-dog gets close in it's leap, one of Weiss's glyphs appears, blocking the attack, and launching it back towards – and completely through – a nearby tree. The tree falls away from us, and the Bear-dog struggles to try and get back onto it's feet, before my sister sends an arrow flying it's way, which hits it in it's right eye. It roars in pain, limps towards us – instead of away – and then finally collapses...it's dead. We slowly approached, weapons still drawn, and I'm the first upon the dead Bear-dog...I kick it in the head with my foot...it doesn't respond...and I take a sigh of relief, putting my spear down "It's dead." I say. The others also seem to give a sigh of relief...and then I note...my Specimen Implant...I've earned a new dossier. We all have... I open my implant's screen, then check the Survivor Profile...sure enough...the Bear-Dog dossier is there. I take a moment to read it aloud while the others carefully examine the dead body.

Amphicyon indominus is a powerful mammalian predator, almost as tall as a man, and capable of carrying a man on it's back. This terrifying animal appears like a large cross between a bear and canine, hence it's nickname. What's more terrifying is that although they can easily hunt solo, Amphicyon commonly hunt in groups of 2-5. They have the ability to swipe their powerful, front forepaws at a target, which can cause powerful damage. Their claws and teeth alike can make a victim bleed out, and they attack vital organs in the same manner as Kaprosuchus, exhausting targets quickly. With up to 5 powerful Amphicyon doing this at once, death is inevitable. Furthermore, they seem to get angrier the more of their pack members are slain.

Although an Amphicyon, with it's power and "Alpha" pack system would be a good taming option, taming is impossible, despite being able to be knocked unconscious. They refuse food given to them and will still try to attack the survivor trying to tame it. This makes the Amphicyon a deadly predator that is to either be avoided or exterminated.

Blake's been looking around consistently "...looks like this is a loner from what I can tell." she says. Ruby holds the Bear-dog's right forepaw up, having to hold it with both hands "Shame they can't be tamed...but look at this! This thing's paws are bigger than my whole friggin' head..." she says in awe of the creature's paw and claws. "Well, yeah..." Weiss says "But so is that of a Beowolf or Ursa".

"Those are Grimm though". Ruby says "this is a real animal."

"True...maybe it's just the shock that animals were once just as fearsome, if not more, than Grimm."

I'm looking at Blake, who's already taken out a hatchet to start skinning the animal. "Hey Blake?" I ask, just as she prepares to go for the first swing, and she looks back at me. "What?" she asks.

"You're not scared of it in any way?"

Blake looks at me confused for a moment, then gets what I mean. "Oh, I get you...not really. It's more of the fear of something trying to kill me than anything else." she says, then looking at the bear-dog's head "And besides...it's more bear than dog, to me."

We take what we can from our dead assailant, gaining some meat, hide, and even pelt. I feel like the pelt will have good insulating purposes, which might come in handy later. We press on, into the forest once again. I don't know how long we've been walking now, but the sky has started to turn red above...the sun must be setting. "We better finish up our searching soon." Blake suggests as we trek through the forest "I don't like the idea of being in the middle of an island jungle at night...especially on the ARK."

"It clears up ahead." Ruby points out "this will be our last stop before we head out of the woods, Yi or no Yi".

We enter the clearing...and discover a unique sight: some sort of hidden spring, probably 60 ft or so in diameter in this decent-sized, covered clearing. The water itself is crystal clear, revealing a smooth stone bottom, and is only a few inches deep. Weiss smiles "this...is really pretty" she says upon seeing the spring. It really is, with the way the clear water shimmers and shines, polishing the smooth, shimmering rocks. I smile, then put my hand on my hips "Well, as pretty as this all is...I've got a question to ask." The others look at me "What's up, Yang?" Ruby asks. I smirk "Well, we've been on this island a few days, and granted certain reasons...I can't be the only one looking for the little girl's room, right?"

The others look at each other and myself awkwardly. "Uhh...yes? er...no." Weiss says, stammering at first. I shake my head "C'mon now, Weiss. There's no such thing as a powder room in a dinosaur apocalypse. It's go as your ancestors did, or...get really sick. Ya know I heard that if it doesn't go out the usual end, sometimes it comes out the other?..."

Weiss...her face is perfect. She's staring at me with a complete uncomfortable look of shock and disgust. She shakes her head quickly, removing that look from her face with a more normal one. "F...fine." she states "I...I'll settle with it. It's not...that bad, right?"

"Meh, yeah. Although maybe if we can figure out piping and stuff, we could figure out plumbing..."

"Until then," Blake adds in "If we ever start farming, we can use-"

"DONT EVEN FINISH THAT!" Weiss says, putting up her hand. "I mean, ok, I know why, but please, not now. There's no way I'm carrying anything around...my own crap!"

"Ehh...once again I'mma side with Weiss here..." Ruby says, slinking to Weiss's side. I chuckle "whatever! Vive le wild!" I say, turning around, and walking off into the nearby bushes. Blake does similarly an opposite direction...before Ruby flies off her own way...she REALLY needed it, apparently. Weiss stands there alone a moment, hesitant, then huffs, and stomps off.

I'm the first back to the spring, and I get on my knees by the water's edge for a drink...damn, I better not make holding it in a thing, I'm dehydrated. Soon Ruby comes back, then Weiss, and Blake...they're just as thirsty as I am. We take a few drinks from the spring before re-filling our waterskins, and taking a short break. Weiss...is somehow surviving this, I don't know how, but hey, she's a trooper. It's just as we're getting back up nearby bushes shake, and there's a strange noise. Ruby quickly looks over, the sound familiar to her. "W..wait...I think that was him!"

"You sure sis?" I ask. Ruby scans the bushes "...yes! Right there, in the bushes! I see blue and orange! It's him!" She's excited, but keeping her voice low. She begins to slowly walk over, leading the way, with us close behind. "Hey there you..." she says low, reassuringly. "Don't you remember me? I've got friends this time." she slowly gets closer to the bush. "It's ok...no, don't be afraid...come on out. We've got more food to share...it's ok. Come on out you-"

Just then, a noise as a familiar head pops out of the bush. We freeze upon seeing it. Ruby's looking directly into it's eyes. "...little shit"

Just as she says that, the Compy horde bursts from the bushes once again, several of them leap onto Ruby and bring her to the ground. She's kicking and screaming, and we rush to her aid once again. I grab and hit at the compys as they nip and scratch at Ruby. On jumps up and latches onto my arm, and I rip it off and throw it away. Suddenly, I feel many of them on my legs, and jumping up to get my back. I reel backwards and start flailing at them all around me. I'm not the only one getting attacked: Weiss and Blake are now too. I kick and strike as much as I can, but in the end, several of them are leaping up onto me, forcing me onto the ground. They're biting me everywhere, even yanking on my hair, which only ads to my fury. My hair bursts into flame, but it only causes them to stop tugging on my hair, but go for everywhere else. I can hear Ruby, Weiss, and Blake also screaming and flailing on the ground. We're all being slowly torn up by the compy gang. It's painful, and I'm bleeding from what feels like everywhere. The stinging and nipping won't go away from the compys' relentless assault, no matter how hard I flail. The fear is racing through my mind that...the others die before me, and I get to see and hear them being eaten...no...we're already being eaten alive, and I can't do anything about it!Suddenly, there's a massive, loud roar from what sounds like some sort of large, apex predator; and there's a gust that can only be from it's breath...looking the direction, I see two large eyes atop a massive head. The Compys all immediately scream and bolt the opposite direction, fleeing as fast as they can. I'm relieved I no longer feel the pain of the compys anymore, but I immediately remember the predator that scared the compys away. We turn towards the direction of the face, and look into it's eyes!...th..they're not eyes. They're eyespots – and the gust of wind wasn't from the opening of a mouth, but the opening of a pair of wings...it's the Yi. It adjusts it's head, making a loud growl uncharacteristic for it, as it lowers it's wings with a few flaps, and starts making a few low bird like calls, shaking it's head a few times as it flaps, then folds it's wings. Ruby gives a weak, but enthusiastic smile "Thank you!" she says. The Yi bobs it's head and does a short call as if to say "you're welcome". We all slowly stand onto our feet...we're all in pain, with many nicks and scrapes on us, as well as cuts...but we're alright, thanks to Ruby's pal. Blake smiles appreciatively at the Yi "So...it can mimic the calls of other creatures...neat." she says taking a few sighs of relief. Weiss is...very tired from what's just happened. She leans on a spear, it's tip embedded into the ground, as she smiles weakly at the Yi. "Heh...you really do have weird friends, don't ya, Ruby?" she says. Ruby turns to her and smiles "Weird, but helpful, and I wouldn't trade them for anything else!" she says...she's not talking about just the Yi, but us as well. Just then, Ruby's stomach growls LOUDLY, everybody, including the Yi, hearing it. Ruby rubs the back of her head "heh heh...guess I need to fuel the healing process..."  
"You're not the only one, sis." I say, as I can also feel my stomach fairly empty. We all sit back on the ground, slowly, with the Yi now sitting nearby. He's not tamed yet...but he's coming along. I check my inventory and...uh oh. "Well...I'm out of cooked meat." I say "I...think there should be a thing called Trail Mix on this island. There...I added something for the 'make ARK better' suggestion box."

"You wish." Ruby says "and...me too. Guess...I had the munchies while we were hiking.

"I'm out too..." Weiss notes. We turn to Blake...who's looking into her inventory. She takes a moment, closes her eyes, and sighs, retrieving her cooked fish from earlier from it, and then proceeding to tear it into equal fourths. "It...it's not much, but I don't want you all to go hungry. It should help, right?"

"Yeah, it should." I say, taking my piece from Blake's outstretched hand, and sinking my teeth into the meat. It tastes much better than what I originally recall, probably due to how hungry I am with my body trying to heal from the wounds inflicted by the compy horde. With that being the only food we had on us for now, we walk over to the nearby bushes and browse from them, picking off and eating the safer berries to satisfy our need for dinner. The Yi actually joins us, eating the berries and seeds from the bushes. At one moment, the Yi lifts his head up from browsing, makes a couple noises, then bends back down for a few moments. Then, it pops its head back up again...only much more distant in the forest. Ruby turns to the Yi, who locks eyes with her, and looking at the rest of us. It bobs its head and calls as if to say "goodbye", and then turns, walking deeper into the forest. Ruby smiles, and does a little hop as she starts waving goodbye frantically with her left arm "Bye!" She says "Thank you!".

Feeling grateful, we also wave goodbye. After all...as far as I can see it, and the others as well, that Yi saved our lives. Soon it's walked off into the darkening forest...yeah, we better get moving ourselves. We quickly turn and begin to leave the deep forest as quickly as we can. Who knows what kinds of hell are starting to prowl the forest at night.

I'm so thankful that I met that Yi earlier, and seemed to befriend it. If not...well, one of us...or more than one...heh, I didn't think a swarm of tiny teeth would be what gets me on a dinosaur island apocalypse...but until we get something for crowd control, I think it's best to avoid the compy gang running rampant on the island. Once again, I lead Weiss, Blake, and Yang through the forest as quickly as I can...it's night now, and I really don't want to be in these forests with them, for all of our safety. The forests are beautiful in the day...but turn ominous and spooky at night...there's a sense of danger within them. Finally, I see what looks like an open clearing, and we burst into it, relieved to be out of the woods. Suddenly, I take a look around. "Hey, wait a sec..." I say, scanning the area. "What is it now?" Weiss complains, huffing a little from running. "Nothing bad, I swear!" I reply "It's just...I'm confident this is where we fought Ember's pack!" We all look around...yes, it's the same area! I see where Weiss and Yang once did, the same tree Blake was in, the exact same spot where our initial target Parasaur was...and where I once laid, taming Ember. Blake nods "yes, this is the same spot...so the house should be..." she points up the clearing, rather than down it, towards the beach. "That way. If we head that way, following the clearing, we'll arrive near the house."

"Heh...I REALLY want to go to bed, after today." Weiss says "It's...been eventful...but I'm...really...really tired."

"I feel like I could sleep forever, Weiss." Yang says, yawning loudly. "So let's go on ahead and get home, hm?"

We agree to this, and start heading up the skill. Sometimes, our eyes look up to the vast oblivion above us that is the ARK's nighttime sky...heh, I swear, no matter how long I may be here...that sky will never get old. We walk for about thirty minutes, when suddenly Blake stops...she's listening again.

"Do we have company?" I ask. Blake shakes her head "no...but I hear something...it's coming from up ahead." We look at each other for a moment, then draw weapons. I pull my bow off my back, ready to string an arrow, Weiss and Yang pull out spears, and Blake once again pulls out her trusty hatchets that she used to dispatch her raptor. We slowly creep up the hill...and we begin to hear something. A commotion up ahead...there are vocalizations, familiar ones. High-pitched ones, and lower, gruffer ones. I immediately recognize them "Hey, aren't those raptors?...and Amphicyon?"

"The Bear-dogs?..." Weiss asks. Blake listens for a moment "That's definitely them. I...think we might have a territorial dispute going on up ahead. Listen to their voices, they're obviously stressed and aggressive."

We take a moment...the sound of the Utahraptor and Bear-dogs communicating back and forth sounds spine-tingling, sending a few shudders down my spine. Yang shakes her head "Damn, they really sound pissed off." She says "I wonder what's got them all riled u-"

"HARAAAAAAARRRRRRGHHHH!"

That...that roar that interrupts Yang...it shocks all of us. It's...nothing we know, for sure. Whatever it is, it's new...and it doesn't sound to happy. We proceed with extreme caution, barely cresting the hill. Just over two hundred feet away, we see what's going on. Amphicyon and Utahraptor haven't been conversing at each other...but with each other. There's four Utahraptor and Three Bear-dogs gathered in a wide circle around a large, black object. At my first terrified though, I swear this creature is a Creature of Grimm, as probably do the others...but it's not. It's black, feathered, and stands on two legs. It stands hunched over, as if catching it's breath. It's got a small head, atop a long neck, and a pair of very long arms...the claws on those arms...there's three of them per hand...and the claws must be almost as long as I am tall. Strong legs and a sturdy tail help balance the feathered creature's neck and head. The dinosaur...it's also got a strange, red cloud emitting from around it. "W...what the hell is that thing?"

Blake slowly takes out her spyglass and looks at the seemingly exhausted creature. "..I..it's a Therizinosaurus." she states. "A what?!" I snap back in confusion. "Therizinosaurus." Blake replies "It...it's an herbivorous dinosaur who's name translates into 'Scythe-clawed' or 'Reaping' lizard...for obvious reasons...and it's...level 120?..."

"Wait, what?!" I say scared "That...that's double the level of the highest things the implants said we'd run into!"  
"Well...just look at that thing." Blake says slowly lowering her spyglass. "It...definitely...there's something very wrong with it."

A raptor strafes directly in front of the Therizinosaurus and begins hissing, to which the strange herbivore does nothing. Thinking the prey is wounded, the Raptor attacks, running and leaping into the air...the Therizinosaur instantly springs to life, roaring loudly, it's voice sounding altered – probably by whatever condition it's suffering from – raising it's right arm, and bringing it down talon-first onto the Utahraptor, impaling it in the back through the spinal cord with all three claws, slamming it onto the ground and lodging it's claws in the ground THROUGH the raptor's carcass, before violently ripping them free. This provokes the other carnivores to attack. Two utahraptors, one on each flank, charge the Therizinosaur, and leap onto it, and it proceeds to flail wildly in anger. The fourth Utahraptor charges from the right side, but the Therizinosaur turns and slashes at it as it leaps, killing it, and sending it's corpse flying into a leaping Bear-dog. Another Bear-dog tries to approach from the side while the Therizinosaur is distracted, but it's not quick enough. Once again, with the raptors still on its' back, the Therizinosaur whirls around and uppercuts the bear-dog with it's left arm, instantly killing it and sending the poor carnivorous mammal flying. The last Amphicyon charges and latches on to the 30 ft dinosaur from the front, between it's arms. Bad idea. The Therizinosaur grabs the Amphicyon using it's right hand, tears it off of itself, raises it into the air, and slams it down with such force it's claws cut the bear-dog in half. The two raptors have been hanging on for dear life while trying to bring down this incredibly dangerous animal...they're about to suffer the consequences of choosing this creature as prey. Suddenly, it reaches to it's sides and grabs the raptors by their feet, slamming them down onto the ground in front of itself. It then raises up, arms outstretched, roaring loudly, and then comes down, slashing it's arms in an X-shape onto the ground. There's a splatter of blood as both raptors are violently killed in the same attack. The Therizinosaur steps back, takes several heavy breaths, then roars into the sky with it's claws and arms outstretched. It's still got it's back towards us, thankfully...but...I'm terrified by this thing. It's not even a Grimm, but the way it's acting...it's as...if it's even more dangerous than the Grimm I remember back home. There...there's just something so terrifyingly wrong about this dinosaur. With it's back still towards us, it once again bends over, as if completely winded from the encounter. I...i really don't know what to think right now, other than the fact I'm terrified...and then...still bent over, it lifts it's head slightly, turning it...and sees us. It's unholy, unnatural, red eyes glare into us. We slowly begin backing up...maybe we can just run from this thi-!..wha?! I turn around, feeling something...there...there's suddenly a transparent wall behind us, pulsating in blue light to reveal hexagon-shaped patterns every time I touch it...we..we..we can't run away?! We panic, trying and try in vain to see if this is just some sort of...no...it's no illusion. We...we're trapped! We..we've got no choice. Once again, I ready my arrow...it's not the only one who's angry now. We all are. Blake readies her hatchets, and Yang and Weiss hold spears ready. The Therizinosaur flexes it's claws, then roars loudly as it turns and rightens itself, slashing a dead body of a bear-dog in half with it's left arm as it turns right to face us, then roars at us, arms outstretched, and charges directly towards us with surprising speed.


	7. Chapter 6

"SCATTER!" I scream, and we all run in different directions just as the Therizinosaur slashes at where I once stood. It turns around, and eyes the closest person – Yang, before charging her down, slashing it's claws wildly. Yang can't even give it a moment's notice, she's forced to run. If she stops in the slightest way, it'll be on top of her. If she pulls out her bow and turns around to fire, she could trip. Quickly stringing my bow's string with an arrow, I aim at it's small head and fire. The arrow hits the back of it's head, and it's immediately turning my way, only to suddenly have it's face hit by arrows from Weiss and Blake. Blake's gotten higher ground by standing in the branches of a nearby tree at the edge of the forest, and Weiss is a ways on the other side of her, shooting from the base of palm tree. None of us are focusing on the strength of the shots, just getting the damn thing off of Yang. We must have pumped at least five arrows from each of us in about five seconds before the damn thing decides to finally charge one of us instead of flailing wildly at it's face, thinking there's an invisible assailant hitting it. It charges right at Weiss...and I feel bad for her that I have to use the opportunity of when it's attacking her to actually make any shots. Blake and I manage to pump 5 more arrows into the damn thing before it's on top of Weiss, who barely dodges it's vicious arm swipe, which cuts down the palm tree in half. Luckily, it doesn't get the chance to attack again as the palm tree falls on top of it, and it struggles to free itself, giving Weiss the opportunity to gain distance, before turning around and resuming fire once again. Yang's pulled out her own bow now and has started a cautious advance as she fires, to make sure her shots actually hit. In it's rage, the Therizinosaurus bends the tree at it's roots, tilting it one direction, before it finally throws the fallen portion off of itself. It roars and tries to focus on something to take it's ungodly rage out on...the next thing it feels is an arrow from Blake, and it charges her way. Blake leaps back into the shadow of the forest that she can use within our forced battlefield, as the Therizinosaur begins to start wildly slashing down every tree as it still takes shots from Blake, until she suddenly leaps from the shadows, spear-in-hand, and stabs it in the head. It reels back from this as she rebounds from the strike, taking out her hatchets, and doing a horizontal spin on a tilted axis, slashing down the back of it's neck and it's back. The Therizinosaur buckles forwards from the pain, only to quickly turn around to face Blake as she lands, ripping her spear out of it's head, and throwing it her way, before charging. Blake actually catches the spear mid-flight and begins running away, towards the center of our "arena" with the ungodly creature hot on her heels. Once again, the rest of us are firing at the Therizinosaurus to it's annoyance. In it's primal rage, it once again begins to start slashing wildly around itself, thinking there to be an invisible assailant. I reach back for another stone arrow...i don't have any more. All I've got are tranq arrows, and something unholy in my gut tells me there's no way this thing can be tamed, or even put down with sedatives. "I'm out!" I shriek, before suddenly I hear Blake's voice "I am too!" she responds. C'mon Ruby, think girl...that might work! "YANG! WEISS! KEEP HITTING IT!" I shriek, and I quickly take out a spear. "Blake!" I call "Ladybug!"

They get what I'm trying to say. Yang and Weiss keep hitting the foe with the arrows they have, and Blake takes our her hatchets. Just like we've done in Remnant, Blake and I fly at the heels of our attacker at blinding speed, slashing at it's ankles again and again. The Therizinosaurus doesn't know what to do, it's taking shots and hits from what feels to be everywhere. I can't tell how much blood is on me from slashing at the dinosaur again and again, but it doesn't bother me too much, my adrenaline is pumping profusely. Suddenly, I hear the Therizinosaur's booming roar, and-! It takes a step back, and I feel it's hand behind me! It suddenly smashes Blake and me together between it's hands, lifts us up, shifts us to it's right hand, and throws us a great distance away. I rag doll from the impact of landing alongside Blake, and I can't move at first due to the pain...there's extreme pain in my nose, and blood coming from Blake's forehead. Was that technique even worth it? I hear Yang scream my name as I hit the dirt, and the Therizinosaur charges back at us while we're down. I lift myself up just in time to see Yang flying at the creature with a spear-in-hand, and stabbing the creature in it's side. From her juggernaut charge, she embeds a full fourth of the spear within it's side. It has a rage-induced reflex, whirling around and slashing at Yang with it's left arm as she backflips out of the way...just as she's in the height of the flip, the creature's claws slash right under her head...cutting off a full fourth of Yang's total hair length. The Therizinosaur is distracted by shots from Weiss, and turns to roar at her. Yang lands, and feels her hair, before seeing a cloud of her beloved locks fall to the ground. She...she...damn. She immediately explodes into her full semblance, eyes red and hair aflame "YOU FUCKER!" she roars angrily and...no, she charges directly at it, her anger making her forget she doesn't have any melee weapons of the sort on her. "YANG NO!" I scream, immediately onto my feet, as Blake quickly does the same, and I use my own semblance to fly up behind my sister. I grab her sides as I tackle her and go into a spinning, flame-cloaked dive with her as we fly under the Therizinosaur's body and between it's legs, dodging a brutal attack it prepared for her, and flying out between it's right leg and tail. I land onto my feet with my sister, who looks at me briefly "Dammit, thank you!" she says, with a mix of anger, yet sincere thankfulness within her voice. I'm scanning the area...suddenly I've got another idea. "Blake! Weiss! Keep it distracted! Yang! Try muscling the severed palm tree to lean our way instead!"

They all get what I've got planning. Yang shakes her head "i swear to god if that doesn't work...", before running off. "I'm almost out over here!" Weiss says, and I quickly catch up to my sister, who still runs towards the palm tree. "Gimme your arrows!" I say, and she quickly grabs the remaining bundle of stone arrows from her back and hands them to me. Blake does the only thing she can – a terrible idea in the first place – but she runs right up to the Therizinosaurus, and waving her hatchets at it. Instinctively, it quickly bends down and slashes at her, and she leaves behind a copy of herself to take the hit. Confused, the Therizinosaur pauses for a moment as Blake suddenly rushes underneath it and starts slashing wildly with her two hatchets, cutting it up in a frenzy from beneath. It roars and steps back, trying to slash at her again, only to destroy yet another decoy. Blake keeps up this hit-and-run tactic, as I fly over to Weiss with my semblance, quickly dropping the arrows I've got from Yang into the right spot on her quiver, but leaving myself with one. I've got my own plan at the same time. I fly around the opposite direction of our assailant, and now I'm standing in front of a large rock. Yang's grabbed the tree by now, and using her semblance-empowered strength, she starts trying to muscle the tree to the angle we want it, without breaking it even more. Weiss continues her assault, as does Blake, but I know Blake can't keep that up forever. Using the one stone arrow, I string my bow with it, adrenaline in my veins. I pull back the bow's string as far as I can, and I can feel the weight bending under the pressure. "HEY UGLY!" I roar, before firing the one shot I can. The arrow flies towards it's intended target...empty space...but I've done a little something snipers like me like to call...leading the target. The Therizinosaur's head, as it flails about from Blake and Weiss...gets directly where I anticipated it to be. My arrow lodges within it's right eye, and this stops it's flailing cold. It stumbles forwards, before looking the direction the attack came from, locking rage-filled eyes with mine. "THAT'S RIGHT! YOU!" I scream, jumping up and down, flailing my arms "OVER HERE, FLUFFY!". Immediately, it roars and charges right at me...but I don't move. The others don't get it. Why aren't I moving?... I know why I'm not moving, and that's all that matters. Weiss quickly starts trying to pelt it in the back with arrows to get it off of me, sending three shots into it's back...but it keeps coming. I'm still not moving, and it's right on top of me, arms spread wide, ready to cut me in half...but, at the last possible minute, I use my semblance dodge out of the way, dodging underneath it again, and the full force of it's attack is taken by...the rock. Immediately, It's claws snap upon force of the impact, all at various lengths...all under half length, though, and one is even torn completely off, severing right off of it's root to the bones in it's finger on it's left hand. It roars in immense pain from this as I fly towards Weiss and Blake. "GREAT job!" Blake says, now seeing that my attempt to try and "disarm" the Therizinosaur was successful in and of itself. The creature itself turns towards us, very angry it's weapons have been destroyed, and charges at us...and like I thought, it's forgotten about Yang. The three of us dodge it's attack as we dash around behind it, forcing it's back to Yang...who, having been unable to bend the tree the right way, freaking tears it out of the ground by it's roots, and holds it with both hands like a massive spear. I step back using my semblance once again, to seemingly disappear from Weiss and Blake, but the Therizinosaur is still just angry as hell, only roaring angrily at them, as if trying to re-gain some stamina. I look towards my sister, and she nods at me...we're ready. I've got to gain enough momentum. Yang starts running up from behind the foe, and using my semblance, I run in a wide arc intended to gain momentum and get right behind Yang...Yang leaps just as get behind her and grab her...together, we turn into a spiraling, living missile headed straight for the unsuspecting Therizinosaurus...It rears up and roars at Weiss and Blake...and we send the tree trunk straight through it's back – it's spinal cord – as it also sticks out from it's stomach. It roars in immense pain from this and topples forwards, tree trunk embedding and nailing it to the ground. Yang and I land by Weiss and Blake... "Holy shit..." Yang said "That...actually worked..." she says, looking at me with a face of exhaustion, but satisfaction. Weiss suddenly steps back "Uh...guys...no it didn't."

We turn. Sure enough...it's still alive?! It's trying as hard as it can to pull itself out of the ground and rip the tree from itself. What do we do now?...Suddenly, I get an idea. "Hey!" I say "Remember the food fight back in the cafeteria with Team JNPR?"

"What does that have to do with anything?!" Blake demands. I smirk "My last move. How about we do a little...on-fire version of that?"

They get what I'm aiming for. Blake, Yang, and Weiss dash to the side as I use my semblance, once again, and start running in a circle as fast as I can...sure enough, I manage to whip up a tornado which begins to pick up all kinds of debris: rocks, sticks, leaves, everything. Yang steps back and looks at Weiss. "Heh...I swear to god if you do this, I'm never going to stop laughing about this when I'm in a lighter mood." she says to Weiss with a smug, but angry, yet confident look. Weiss shoots her the same face "Heh...neither will I, probably." she replies. Weiss holds a spear similar to her weapon, and tries to focus...soon enough, a small glyph appears behind Yang's head...manipulating the fire in her hair. Blake turns towards the cyclone I've created. "RUBY! NOW!" she roars. Instinctively, I stop running, sending the column of swirling debris the Therizinosaur's way. Weiss sends the fire towards the cyclone, and the entire thing catches flame. It flies towards the Therizinosaurus, who roars, before it's engulfed by the flame-cloaked vortex. Soon, there's nothing but a smoldering cloud of smoke left. I sigh, walking over to the others...they're just as exhausted as I am. We...impaled that thing with a tree...shot a flaming vortex with flaming debris in it at it...broke off it's damn claws...it's definitely dead, for sure. We're looking at each other, huffing in exhaustion from the fight...but confident in ourselves...until we hear the sound of something shifting within the smoke. It...it can't be, can it?! We turn, and as the smoke settles...we see the shape of the Therizinosaur...with the roots of the tree burned off, it suddenly rips itself free of the tree with an enraged roar, grabbing the tree, tearing it from the earth, and throwing it at us like a colossal spear. We barely dodge out of the way as the tree flies at us, embedding itself into the ground like a giant spear, shaking the earth. The Therizinosaur stands there for a few moments, definitely exhausted from this fight, and greatly wounded. It's burned, bloodied, and bruised...but alive nonetheless...wait...I've got one more idea. I snatch Weiss's spear from her hands, screaming "Sorry!" as I do so and run towards the Therizinosaurus. I'm...still greatly exhausted from the fight, and using my semblance so much...I feel like I could collapse at any moment. The Therizinosaur tries to slash at me but misses, and I jab the spear into it's left flank, the spear sinks into it's tenderized flesh so easily half the spear embeds itself in it's side. It roars in pain as I run away from it "BLAKE!" I yell "The back of it's head! NOW!"

They immediately understand my newest plan. Blake dashes straight towards the Therizinosaur, which slashes, only to hit a decoy of Blake's again. Blake leaps up, grabbing hold of the spear, and flipping herself up using it, and ripping the spear free of the creature's body at the same time. Blake throws it back to Weiss in her leap, who catches it. Blake soon wraps her legs around the Therizinosaur's neck, hatchets drawn, and starts slashing furiously where it's neck connects to the back of it's head. The Therizinosaur flails wildly as she does so, trying to slash her off, but can't reach her due to it's claw length being reduced. I rush forwards with, of all things, a pickax drawn, and start doing mock-attacks at the creature to get it's attention. Yang and Weiss rush in to do similarly. It's working, as the creature starts focusing on us rather than Blake on it's neck. Blood splatters onto Blake with every slash, as the cut gets deeper and deeper into it's neck...I'm keeping a careful eye on the wound...finally, it gets to a condition I like, before moving on to phase two. "Yang! Blake! Swap out!" I order, adrenaline overstimulating me. Blake leaps off of the Therizinosaur; and, with Weiss's help, Yang gets a boost up onto the Therizinosaur's neck. "Weiss! It's arms!" I order...but, no...she doesn't have her weapon. She can't freeze them to the ground like I expected her to in my adrenaline-fueled rush...but she surprises me. Once again assuming a stance, four black glyphs appear around the Therizinosaur's arms: two above and two directly below. They force the creature's hands to the ground, and the Therizinosaur starts to buck and kick with it's back legs, and Weiss ends up forcing those still as well. The Therizinosaur struggles frantically as it is immobilized, trying to throw Yang off, who's holding on for dear life. "FACE-RIPPER GO NIGHT-NIGHT!" she roars angrily, struggling to get a firm grasp of the creature's head. It's not so much the head is too big, but simply because it's struggling so much, and constantly trying to bite her arm. She reaches out with her left hand as much as she can...finally, she grabs the snout. With a primal roar, Yang tightens her grip on the neck with her legs, tightens her grip on the head, and snaps the creature's neck...which, with the help of the injury Blake made...decapitates the damn thing. It falls to the ground, Yang still on it...this time, it won't get up. I run towards my sister, who's hair extinguishes, and hug her tightly. She does the same...and soon I Blake and Weiss have joined us. We hear a noise, then look above us, to see the invisible dome that trapped us in this location disappear...we're free. We've won...the smiles and laughter coming from us now...we...i don't know how we're smiling and laughing after all this...maybe just nervous stress. Yang puts her forehead on mine and then I instinctively feel pain, and break free of the group. Yang tilts her head at me, looking concerned...before her eyes widen...the others do too. I'm confused at first...and then am suddenly aware of the pain in my face. Quickly, I take out my spyglass and look at my reflection in it's lens...my nose is broken, undoubtedly from when I smashed into Blake...that explains the blood coming out of my nose...I make a scared whine, before slowly grabbing the bridge of my nose, and hesitating. "D...do you want one of us to?..." Yang asks. I shake my head "I...I've got it..." I say, knowing that only I can truly get "ready" for what I'm about to inflict upon myself. I take a few scared huffs, then snap my nose back into place. There's a pop as I yelp in pain...but it's back where it belongs. The three of them walk up to me fairly quickly. "Hey...lemme see what I can do about that." Weiss says, as the two of us kneel onto the ground. Yang looks back, at the decapitated head of the enemy "...hey...can we keep that as a trophy?" she asks. I smile "Sure, go on ahead if you want...but I...really want those claws back at the rock...especially the whole one."

"You stay here and let Weiss take care of you." Blake says with a comforting smile. "Let me go get those". Yang turns to grab the get the creature's head, while Blake goes off to the rock to collect the claws. Weiss pulls out a small piece of hide, just large enough for the bridge of my nose. "Now..i don't know exactly how I'm going to do this, but...it's going to hurt when I touch it, alright?" Weiss says, and I nod. Even with my aura and new healing rate, a broken nose might take a while. She tears a slit in opposite sides of the strip of hide, then starts threading fiber through them. Yang walks back over, but I don't see her with the head in her hands. "You didn't get it?" I ask, seeing her hands empty. She smiles, tapping her implant "Stored away. It said we could put it on a trophy wall-mount - I REALLY want to do that. So how's your nose?"

"Still painful." I say as Yang kneels next to me. Weiss has finished threading the fiber through the slits in the hide. "Alright..." she says "Now, it's gonna hurt because it's pressing your nose to keep it in place, alright?" I nod. "Good. Yang, think you can tie this off snugly back behind Ruby's head?"

"Sure. Happy to help."

Weiss carefully places the strip of hide over my nose, and I ready myself for the pain. She presses it firmly around the bridge of my nose, with the ends of the strip pressing firmly against my face. It stings...but I manage through it. Yang grabs the dangling fibers and begins tying it together behind my hair, sending the straps over my ears. "How do you feel, sis?" she says, pausing before finishing her knot. "Ok, I guess..." I say, my voice altered by the fact my nose is partially closed. Weiss quickly adjusts the strap on my face and Yang re-does her knot. "Any better?" Yang asks, and I give a sigh of relief "much better." I say, my voice normal again. Blake's now back from the rock, claws packed away in her inventory...except for the full claw, which she carries on her shoulder. "Thought you'd like to take a look at this before I pack it away." She says, handing me the giant claw. I hold the long, sharp claw within my hands, turning it over once...I'm in awe of what I'm holding. "It...is literally a natural scythe." I say, before looking up at Blake "Guess it really does deserve that name".

"Yeah...so what are you wanting to do with that?"

"I want to turn it into a scythe, duh." I say. Yang smiles "Build your weapon from scratch..." she says, remembering what I said about re-building our weapons "I don't know about the whole gun-part, but you could definitely make a scythe out of a claw like that."

"That's the plan." I say "and I have a few ideas floating around in-mind about design, but...nothing concrete."

"You'll figure it out, sis." Yang says, patting me lightly on the back, and I then pack the claw away in my inventory, as I stand with my team, and walk over to the carcass of the Therizinosaur. We stare at it, unsure of what to do. "Ok...I'm not the only one who doesn't even want to try using any hide or meat from that thing, right?"

"No way."

"Nuh-uh."

"Nope."

"So..." I say, just rubbing the back of my head "...just leave it here to rot?"

"...yeah."

"I guess."

"Sounds right."

I'm just about to turn around...but something tells me not to. I eye the carcass...then slowly bring up my implant, and tap it... "It's got an inventory." I say, somewhat shocked.

"Does it have anything worthwhile?" Weiss asks.

"Some arrows – probably the ones we shot at it – 56 in total...take those back..." I say, putting them into my inventory. "...oh snap, that's good."

"What?" Yang asks. "There's...a sword in here." I say "it's of...'ramshackle' quality."

"Wait...sword?" Blake asks. I eye the icon the best I can "It's...like a cross between a short-sword and a machete...but yeah, a sword." I tap it's icon, and then, the sword's suddenly in my free hand. It's hilt comes down around the handle, and the blade itself is similar to that of a machete...it's like a cross between the two, like I said...and it seems...better quality than what could be called "ramshackle" - Much better quality. I hold it out to Blake "You're a sword-wielder." I say "how does this feel for you?"

She takes it in her hands and holds it by the handle, shaking it carefully a few times. "Well, a quick thing...from what I've been gathering, everything we make standard is of "primitive" tech tier. From what I can establish, Ramshackle is better...so, this is basically a sword in a quality just above what's standard on ARK. As for me...it's a good blade, but...heavier than what I'd like. It's similar to the sheathe of my weapon...but too heavy and bulky." I turn to Weiss "howabout you?" I ask. Blake turns and hands the blade to Weiss, who holds it in her hand. She then assumes a posture with it as if the machete was her old weapon, trying out the blade. After a couple moments of being in this posture, looking down the blade, Weiss assumes a normal stance. "Like Blake said, it's too heavy for me...too heavy and bulky. I don't know if you saw, but I was having a little bit of trouble holding the blade up in the posture I usually wield my weapon in. Again, like Blake said, it's a nice blade...but too heavy for my style. This isn't an agile blade either of us usually wield. It's more of a...well, it's a sword built more for straight-up brutality rather than speed or the like. That's why it's bulky and heavy."

"Lemme see that then." Yang requests, and Weiss hands over the sword. Yang nods "heh...better than what I've been using for a bit, anyway. I'll take it." She hangs the sword on her side using the belt around her waist. I take a moment to look back in the Therizinosaur's inventory and...what? What I see confuses me. "Hey...guys?" I ask.

"What?" Weiss asks.

"Do...any of you have any idea what 'Super Test Meat' could be?..."

"Super what?" Yang asks.

"Test Meat. Super Test Meat."

"...what?"

"There's six of them in here." I say, taking them out, and holding one in my hands. It looks just like standard raw meat. "Although...they don't seem to expire...and...for some reason...I don't think it can be cooked."

"...I think we should keep it for now." Blake says "if it can't be cooked and doesn't have an expiration date...it's got to have some sort of use. We'll figure it out as we go along. Anything else in there?"

I take one final look. "...Yeah...a note."

"A note?" Weiss asks.

I take the note from the inventory, and then hold it in my hands. It's on a worn piece of paper...but it's definitely legitimate handwriting. I start reading it aloud.

 _"_ _To those it may concern._

 _If you have this, then you probably killed the damn thing, rather than drive it off like I had to. A s much as I wanted to kill the thing, I had things to do. Listen. My name is-"_

I squint trying to make out the name. I can read cursive fine, but...it's too scratched. "I...can't make out a name. It's too illegible" I state, before reading on.

 _"_ _As you would guess from the name, I am female. You may also know who I am. If you are on Cragg's Island, you know my law: I welcome you, so long as you show no hostility to me...that was for the possibility somebody kills that Therizinosaurus in recent time...which probably didn't happen. You...you're of the Next Generation, aren't you?...ah, you're probably wondering what I mean by that. Let me tell you. If you've killed this Therizinosaurus, you've probably been around enough to find out that there were once humans here before. There were...until things went out of control. I can see what's going to begin already. I've been around on the ARK for many years...trust me, you're going to live here a while. The ARK keeps the appearance youthful and lives long so long as you're healthy and prospering...Cragg's Island is a good place for starting out, isn't it? There's nothing incredibly dangerous here on the land...it's a good place for 'beginners'...that's why I'm grateful I woke up here. You're using the cliffside area, aren't you?...heh. I did too, for my base. If I may recommend, do as I did. Raise up walls in front, but also deeper towards the back. The forest is disguising a fairly large plateau back there, which you can use for extra building space, and also make use of the area below. The rocks disguise it, but the area is entirely flat. It's a good place for extra space and storing smaller aquatic animals: I stored all my larger ones in a pen I built around the Red Obelisk._

 _Yet, enough with how to build a home for now. You're probably wondering 'what's up with you?'. People call me the Conqueror of Ark for a reason: I figured out how this island works, and by myself, I've prospered so much that I'm on a level many others have to form tribes to make. I found out this island...and they took notice. Not just other people...but the makers of the ARK. Yes, I've seen them. They're...strange creatures...but familiar...not to far off from ourselves...I guess that explains the Ark Armageddon...that's what people are calling what's going on now. The race...the viewed themselves as ecological protectors, taking creatures from our planet's past to this place...but why? Simply put, our planet was the one closest to their own. They don't have one, anymore...in their own carelessness, they let theirs die off. They learned the hard way...then we, sentient beings, emerged, one time in history...they took notice. They began taking us as well...to see if we truly were...or could possibly be, like them. They'd met other races they had warred with...but conquered them all in the process. They were all too...different in some way or another. I can only imagine how lonely they felt. The tests they put us humans through...it was an evolution process. To see if we really were like them...the way humans frequently fought and enslaved each other...the ways at times we'd war with each other...violently killing each other for our own whims...they didn't think there was any way we truly were related...well, surprise surprise. Further testing on their behalf revealed how truly similar we were...we're related by blood. Comparing DNA, our DNA is 97.48% exact to their own. It makes me wonder of our own origins, to be honest. This...this caused a calamity between the race. They didn't find another race of beings like them...as far as they were concerned, they found distant family...that's how the majority of them took it, anyway. Several of them...they were in fierce denial of it. We...we reminded them of themselves in their own dark past. To them, it was like looking in a mirror; and they didn't like the reflection...so they decided to shatter the glass. They started launching Plagues at us. That Therizinosaurus was suffering from such a Plague, called Primal Wrath. It's not a disease...but simply some sort of genetic modification that turns them incredibly powerful and hyper-aggressive. Therizinosaurs are aggressive by nature, but as long as you leave them alone, they're fine with you. As I could guess, this Therizinosaur wasn't that lenient, was it? And let me guess...you got trapped into an arena with it? Typical. Luckily for you, it should be the last of the Primal animals that were released. Plagues came in all kinds...the Primals...and then sometimes actual diseases...there were a lot of different things that would happen. That are happening...at least, to me. I don't wish upon you, regardless of who or what you are, or how you act, what I've been seeing here. A civil war broke out between them...they're killing themselves – and us – off. Their imperial general spoke with me a few days ago. All stored human specimens were destroyed by the group trying to kill us off...I'm mankind's greatest ally with this race as of now...yet I'm powerless to stop anything. The ARK itself...it can't kill us. It's main purpose is to let those within determine who and what survives, and it allows you to thrive or not depending on what those within it have judged. So they tried to get proactive...things are going to hell now and it's causing peaceful tribes to war against one another violently...yet very few aggressors have dared step foot on Cragg's Island due to what I've done...but...even I don't think I can escape the inevitable. Regardless, I am here to help. When you can, head to the Red Obelisk and access the Tribute Terminal. Once there, use 'retrieve tribute data', and use the code 013682. That's my first part of a little helpful care package to help you on your feet, courtesy of myself and those of the other race trying to preserve us...they may end up destroying themselves AND us...the imperial General told me if such a thing happens, the ARK goes into Autonomous Mode, and will start gathering specimens again: that's you. Don't worry about another mass extinction. That wasn't the ARK...so you're safe from that._

 _I wish you the best of luck on this island, may you heed my advice and receive my help. As far as I'm concerned...you're my allies in this._

 _-A.L."_


	8. Chapter 7

I turn towards the others. "...so there was a mass extinction of human life." I say. "I...guess you were wrong, Blake. We...they did evolve to much."

"...it's not that." she said. "But...in a way...they...devolved the aliens..." Blake shakes her head. She's obviously stressed out about this. "Does...it bring back too much? All sound too familiar?" I ask. Blake nods. "Damn too familiar, and you know what I'm talking about...but...I can assume they did kill themselves in the end. So...I guess with that being said...we're OK from that." All of our hearts are heavy knowing what's happened in the past. I shake my head "S...so many...everybody died..." I stutter, still in shock from hearing this. After a fairly lengthy moment of pondering in silence,Yang sighs. "Well...let's just go home for now. We can all take a good night's rest and wake up tomorrow recharged. After all...the night is young. Let's hurry home." We agree to this, and I tuck the note away into my inventory, as we go back home. Soon enough, our rock comes into sight, and we give a sigh of relief as we approach our home. To our delight, we're greeted by none other than Nightshade, who's up and about, patrolling the general area. He walks on over to us and looks down on us, giving a low growl as if to say "welcome home." We smile at this as he lowers his head to allow us to pet him. Nightshade's activity has brought over Ember and White Fang, as well. Ember trots right up to me, and I throw my arms around her as she nuzzles and licks me. "Hey there girl!" I say happily. "I've missed you so much too!" I've really needed her affection to help me feel better. I think she knows I have been through a bit today. White Fang seems to know similarly with Blake, and after letting Blake stroke his head a few times, backs up a slight bit, then rears up, putting his front legs over her shoulders. Blake makes an audible "oof" as he does so, barely able to stand with him on top of her, but eagerly accepting his affection. White Fang and Ember soon let go of Blake and I, and we smile at this. "heh..." I say "it's...good to be home, isn't it?"

The others agree with me, and just as we go to turn in for the night, Nightshade stirs. He hears something. We turn around upon hearing it. They...they're big footsteps, whatever they are...and...it sounds like something limping. Whatever it is, it's something big limping...soon, trees in the forest up towards the top of the hill shake, and something begins to emerge...and it's BIG. Bipedal, and dark in coloration...It...it's practically the size of a T-rex. I...for a moment, I swear it...is one...but it's arms are too long, and have three fingers. It's got a mane of what looks like feathers down it's back...and it's heading right for us, dragging it's right leg along the ground. Despite the darkness, I can see the coloration...a blue, white, and black color. Blake takes a step back as we all do, and briefly takes out her spyglass to do a quick examination. "It...it's a Megalosaurus, male, level 45". She says. "D...didn't A.L say that there wasn't supposed to be anything big here on land?" I stammer. Blake, with a stern look on her face, pulls out her bow. "Yes...but let's not take her word for it quite yet. Let's tame it."

"Wait, what?" Weiss asks, as the creature limps towards us. "If we tame it," Blake says "We've got our first big carnivore. We've got enough meat on us. We've all got tranquilizer rounds...and we've got our tames." I look back. White Fang is growling at the approaching creature, and Nightshade seems ready to pick a fight. Ember's looking into my eyes as if to tell me she's ready to do what's needed. Now I look at Weiss, Blake, and Yang...they're all returning me determined looks. I draw my bow with a tranquilizer arrow now in it's string. "Alright then. Let's not screw this up. I still want to actually get a good night's sleep tonight."

"I second that..." Weiss says annoyed, stringing her own bow. All of us now stand ready for the creature to attack. It...it's wounded already...there's a large gash in it's right thigh, which has caused it to limp. We can't go too hard on it...but if we let up, it could easily kill us, even in it's wounded state. At the most, it's wound should slow it down. The Megalosaurus stops, and looks up, seeing us. It gives a few exhausted pants, while eyeing us down. It looks to it's wound for a moment...then closes it's eyes, looks forwards...and directly at us. For a moment, there appears to be a leer that shines from it's left eye, before roaring. The way it's looking at us...it's letting us know that despite being wounded...it's gonna fight back. It shifts it's weight on it's feet, staring us down, and the leer seems to once again cross it's left eye. It's challenging us, letting us know one thing: if we screw with it...despite it's weakness...we're gonna have a bad time. Compared to the Primal Therizinosaurus?...

Bring it.

I give out a whistle, and Nightshade, Ember, and White Fang charge in, as the four of us run up behind and spread out into the field. The Megalosaurus strikes towards our pets, who dodge the attack with ease. They know what we're doing: distract it, don't kill it. I fire an arrow into it's back, and the tranquilizer starts flowing through it's body. Obviously, despite the size, it doesn't cause an immediate effect. The four of us continue to pelt it with arrows as our pets keep it busy. I think we've fired about twenty arrows into it before it swats Nightshade off his feet with it's tail...and charges right at Blake. It's done with our tames, and more focused on us now. It charges right at Blake, claws outstretched. Blake's too tired to use her semblance, and starts strafing to the right after giving another shot. The Megalosaurus lunges at Blake, who dodges out of the way, just as Nightshade slams into it's stronger leg. The Megalosaurus whirls around and shoves Nightshade out of the way, but has lost track of Blake. From how well it's seeing, we immediately assume correctly that it's a nocturnal creature. Next, the Megalosaurus targets Weiss, attempting to charge at her, but it's charge is interrupted when it's wounded leg buckles a moment, loosing momentum, but then keeps charging on. Weiss easily gets out of the way of the violent attack, countering with yet another tranquilizer arrow. Ember leaps up and grabs the Megalosaurus's tail, as it whirls around and retaliates, and she lets go, dropping free and dashing between it's legs. We're sending shots into it, but it's still standing. Dammit, is this even working? Is it another untameable? White Fang does a mock pounce at the Megalosaurus...but it's not faking anything. Right as White Fang turns to run, the Megalosaurus lunges and grabs a hold of White Fang in it's jaws by the back, lifting him up off the ground and proceeding to start gnawing on him. It's a terrifying sight, but Blake is furious. She suddenly charges in, directly at the Megalosaurus, and starts firing into it's face, as White Fang flails frantically from the attack. The Megalosaurus is getting angry with this, but only responds by gnawing more on White Fang, who roars in pain. Suddenly, I hear a noise from somewhere...and it's my sister. She's charging, bow put onto her back, right at the Megalosaurus. She leaps up onto the head of Nightshade, who flicks his head as he rises, boosting her into the air. Yang flies up into the air, then...I see what she's doing. She flies above the Megalosaurus, and at the height of her ascent, readies her right fist, as she then falls directly on top of it's head and punches it dead center. Yang...she doesn't seem to suffer any recoil, but I feel bad for the poor Megalosaurus. It's smashed on the head with such blunt force that it lets go of White Fang, who hastily moves out of the way with Blake right beside him. The Megalosaurus is dazed from the impact...i guess blunt force trauma also adds to Torpor. Makes sense, as far as I can see. Yang pulls out a bow and strings it with a torpor arrow...just as she does this, the Megalosaurus rushes forwards and uppercuts her with it's head, sending her flying. "YANG!" I scream as she flies a good distance, landing onto her back, the wind knocked out of HER this time. The Megalosaurus charges my sister while she's down, mouth wide open. I'm too tired to even try and use a single ounce of my semblance, and my only hope is to give just the right annoying shot to get it's attention back on me. It's right on top of my sister as I pull the string on my bow back. Just then, there's a high-pitched shriek as something bashes the Megalosaurus upside the head. Confused about where it's been hit from, it takes a step back and shakes it's head. W...where did it get hit from?...suddenly, a shadow answers this for me...it's been hit from above. It's the Yi again, as it dives down from above a second time. This time, instead of just doing a drive-bye, it grabs the top of the Megalosaurus's head using it's talons, grabbing it by the feathers on the top of it's head, and actually yanking it's head away from my sister, before letting go. This gets the Megalosaurus's attention. The Yi quickly lands, landing on all fours at first with a slide as it turns towards the Megalosaurus, then fanning out it's wings and roaring the same false roar as earlier. The Megalosaurus isn't exactly impressed, and continues behaving aggressively at it. The Yi continues stamping the ground with it's wings outstretched, giving fake calls to intimidate the Megalosaurus. As those two face each other, Weiss and I run over to my sister as she slowly gets up onto her own feet, and we help her up. She's fine, thankfully. A roar from the Megalosaurus brings us back to their confrontation. The Megalosaurus has only advanced further towards the Yi...who retaliates in an unexpected way. Just as the Megalosaurus gets close to it, the Yi suddenly spits a strange, brief stream of green goop onto the face of the Megalosaurus, who shakes it's head and takes a step back. The Yi does this once again, and the Megalosaurus acts similarly...only now incredibly tired. It takes a few more steps back, making exhausted noises, before collapsing onto it's side. The Yi, which was standing on one foot with it's wings fanned out, flaps it's wings once and stands normally, making a standard call, before it looks at my sister, and runs on over to her, stopping in front of her, Weiss, and I. Yang smiles "heh...I'm alright, thanks." Yang says, to which the Yi seems relieved for. Blake walks over with White Fang "is he OK?" I quickly ask. She gives a relieved sigh "I'm beyond relieved the saddles also double as armor...it kept him from getting any extensive wounding. He's fine."

I sigh in relief "that's wonderful."

"N...not as wonderful as this..." Weiss says, looking at her implant...she's pulled up a screen, and we look at her screen...she's in the survivor profiles and...the..the Yi dossier...it's there. We look up at the Yi, who tilts his head and makes a gobble-like noise at us, before proceeding to lick my face once. I laugh and pet it's head. Weiss starts reading the dossier as we make our way to the Megalosaurus.

 _Common Name: Yi_

 _Species: Yi wyernis._

 _Habitat: Unknown, most common sightings are in jungles and mountains._

 _Locale: Varies_

 _Diet: Omnivore (prefers insects)_

 _Temperament: Docile_

 _-Wild-_

 _Of all of the dinosaurs I've seen on the ARK, none are more amazing and mystifying than Yi wyvernis. While its at-home cousin (Yi qi) is barely a foot long, Yi wyvernis is MUCH larger- slightly larger than the utahraptors of the island!_

 _I presume this is because of Yi's diet. Yi qi are thought to be omnivores; eating fruits, nuts, seeds, insects, and small lizards. Yi wyvernis lives up to this expectation, but seems to prefer insects...specifically, the large insects of the island! While it's thought that Yi qi could only glide, it appears that this Yi's wings have developed to actually carry itself in flight like a pteranodon, although it seems it has to get a running start. Once airborne, it can stay aloft for as long as needed. It will chase down aerial prey like Meganuera, Permithone, and Titanomyrma soldiers; while it will divebomb terrestrial prey like Arthropluera, Pulmonoscorpius, and Titanomyrma drones, attacking with it's vaguely eagle-like feet and sharp teeth. This diet seems to have given Yi qi complete immunity to the insect's toxins, as well as the acidic blood of an arthropluera! However, it appears that it preys upon these deadly animals for more than just preference. Yi are able to incorporate the effects of their victims into a defense mechanism rarely used for offense. They are able to produce a poisonous spit that has properties of Scorpion and Ant venom, and has very slight effects of arthopluera blood. Furthermore, it has a tendency of spitting this in the attacker's face, further giving the spit dilophosaurus-venom effects, blinding and slowing down foes. Despite its exotic, and feathery appearance, Yi wyvernis is actually VERY powerful. It is a shame I cannot get more for study, as these creatures are unimaginably rare, called by many as one of the fabled "Super Rares" of the Island. I'm beyond certain that they thrive on the island, but because of their elusive nature, the entire species is shrouded in mystery._

 _-Domesticated-_

 _I was only able to do this section because of a close and remarkable friend of mine. It appears that she was able to domesticate one of these unimaginably rare creatures passively, by offering a variety of food (since they are immune to knockout poisons). Not surprisingly, they appear to enjoy scorpion, and arthropluera kibble the most. She's worked very well, willingly, and enthusiastically with me to figure out what this creature is best suited for. The ability to run and fly make it an excellent transportation mount, while it excels in combat (especially against insects), especially with it's poisonous spit. I've got more research on this creature to do, however, so I'll be heading back to her home later on today."_

"Super Rare?" I ask excitedly "Super Rare?! This early for us?! And it can do all that?!"

"Heh, apparently." Weiss says with a smirk "he's...a literal Dragon. Or...as the dossier says, a literal wyvern. Besides, keeping the homestead pest-free is another good reason to have him for me."

"That spit though is what intrigues me." Blake says "Blinding spit with stamina-draining and torpor-inducing properties, having a slightly corrosive nature?...heh, it might as well be breathing fire. Being able to integrate the defenses of it's prey into it's own mechanisms..."

"Hey, wait a sec." I say. "Do you think the 'close and remarkable friend' in the dossier could have been A.L?"

"Possible." Blake replies "She said she had a positive, yet imposing rep. The dossier author seems to hold his friend in high regard. I wouldn't be surprised if it was her in the end."

"Yet, if I may..." Yang asks "What about our name for the new guy?...I think Ruby should get first pick at a name."

"Me?" I ask "well...he's kinda ours, right?"

"Yes, but...you're the one who he befriended first. What've ya got?"

I pause a moment. "...I like Quru!" I say with a smile.

"Quru?" Weiss asks curiously. "Where'd that come from?"

"I don't know!" I say, still smiling "He...just looks like a Quru to me!"

"Heh...alright then, Quru it is."

Quru seems to chortle in agreement to this. Now we're at the Megalosaurus. Surprisingly, it hasn't been loosing it's torpor too quickly. It's really out cold. Having collapsed onto it's right side, we can see the full extent of it's leg injury. "...heh, damn son." Yang says, eyeing the still red wound. "How'd ya get that?"

Blake pauses a moment. "The Kaprosuchus dossier says Kaprosuchus commonly live in the swamp. A.L said large carnivores like him don't show on Cragg's, but likely on the mainland...maybe they were driven here."

"Who?" I ask.

"White fang and the Megalosaurus." she replies. "It's obvious White Fang is an albino, and albino creatures often have genetic issues or the like, and sometimes they die off in the wild due to the fact they can't hide from other animals, thus are either hunted or starved out easily. White might have been forced to move to Cragg's because of competition. Likewise for our Megalosaurus here...look at that wound. Doesn't it look like something his size or bigger made that?"

We look at his wound on his thigh. "...I can see that." I say, and Blake nods. "Exactly. He may be a large predator, but that doesn't make him an Alpha. As far as we know, he might have had a run in with a stronger Megalosaurus...or something else."

I feel really bad for the guy now, and slowly walk up to his head, slowly resting my hand upon it's head...crud, he's out, but we haven't even bothered feeding him. Best get started on that...maybe we do have enough meat. I check my inventory to grab some acquired earlier in the day, but...wait...my eyes are immediately drawn to the Super Test Meat...something tells me...I take out a single piece in my hand. "Just one?" Blake asks. "This is that Super Test Meat." I respond "I just want to see what happens..."

"Test the Super Test Meat?" Yang asks, folding her arms "and if it's super toxic and kills it?"

"You can throw me off the cliff for wasting our hard work."

"Dang, sis. Although...I guess sometimes we're gonna fail...this is all trial and error, isn't it?...ARK happens." I eye my sister "ARK happens...I like that." I say.

"Really? Well...i wasn't even trying for anything with that. +1 point for me."

I turn towards the Megalosaurus and hold out the Super Test Meat. It takes a moment to sniff it, before allowing me to put it into it's mouth. It seems to chew the meat a few moments, then swallow...not even three seconds after it swallows the meat, it immediately stands up, no longer unconscious, and roars. All of us are staring directly at it, wide-eyed in shock. "I...Instant-taming food?!" Yang states in disbelief. "A...apparently!" I respond. The way it's acting...yes, the Megalosaurus is tamed. I look at the others "...we save this stuff until we get something really hard to tame or something like that?" I ask. The others quickly agree to this. With that done, I turn towards the Megalosaurus, who's looking at us now. "So...that done, what's his name?" Weiss takes a few steps forwards, folding her arms. The Megalosaurus looks at her...with what seems to be a smug or teasing look, and it's left eye seems to leer for a split second yet again. Weiss smiles "Well, I don't know about you guys...but I'm liking the name Sans."

Yang smiles "Sans, eh?...i like it. Seems like there's a little something to this guy...something more than meets the eye."

We agree to this, before putting a fair amount of meat from our inventory into Sans's inventory. I turn towards him as the others start heading back to the shack. "You take it easy tonight." I say. "You try and heal up from that wound, alright? Just don't leave Nightshade to do all the work."

Sans seems to growl in acceptance to this, and he and Nightshade look at each other a moment as I walk towards the house, before starting yet another patrol. Ozpin's been hunched at the door half-asleep, waiting for us to get home. Blake smiles "Sorry we're late, old man. We've had a...eventful day."

Ember and White Fang curl up near each other near the firepit, and Quru joins them, nestling between them, and lying his head on the ground. The five of us enter the shack and close the door behind us. I move over to the oil lamp and light the flame on the inside. "We've got a few minutes and the materials." I say. "How about we make three more sleeping bags real quick before we call it a night?"

We agree to this. Dividing and conquering, we whip out three more comfortable sleeping bags in under half an hour. The four of us now lie within our sleeping bags, propped up, and dressed in cloth clothing again. "Well...today was eventful, huh?" I say with a strange smile. The others agree with me "Despite getting our butts kicked a few times today..." Weiss says "...I feel like we've gotten more used to this island."

"Despite knowing the dangers..." Blake says "Despite...knowing what happened here in the past... I'm resolved in believing we really can conquer this place...just like A.L did, by herself."

"Heh...it's been a ride. That's for sure. Can't tell how many times the train looped, swerved, and completely derailed...but...it's been an experience that...well, I'm glad I've got you guys with me." Yang says "and...I really mean that...There were times today and others...I don't think I would have made it without you all. I'm...not as kick-ass sometimes as I think I am, and...strangely...it's nice to get a wake-up call sometimes."

We chuckle at this. "Well..." I say thoughtfully "Here's to a well-deserved night's rest, right?"

"Here here." Blake says with a smile, and the others begin to lie down into their sleeping bags. I...I don't know what I'm feeling right now, other than relief and pride. I move my arm to the lantern. Just as I'm about to unhook it from the stand and blow out the light -

"...actually, wait a minute." Weiss says. I turn towards her and she and the others sit back up. "What's up, Weiss?" I ask. Weiss...her face shows she's uncomfortable about something. "It's just that...well...today's been eye-opening for me."

"I think it has for everybody, Weiss." Yang says "What about it?"

"Not just that...I mean..." Weiss takes a moment. She lowers her head, eyes closed...and a tear falls down her cheek. "...I'm sorry."

"Weiss...what do you mean?" I ask.

"Heh...heh...I...i mean I'm sorry for being me...or..at the same time...me not being me." she lifts her head up, eyes full of tears "Ruby...you know how I said as a kid I always wanted bunk beds?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Well...another thing I always wanted as a kid...was...were...friends." Weiss says. She...she quickly looses it. "All my life growing up under my family I was being trained and refined into an image my father deemed best...something like himself. I didn't like that, but I didn't...I...I couldn't say no. I had to...I had to become a spoiled-rotten...pompous, stone-hearted girl. A kind of girl I absolutely hated. I made everybody else...I hid myself from my the world...under a stone-cold mask...and...yet the thing I wanted to do the most...was to hide from myself. I hated who I was becoming...yet was forced to accept it, and in the end I...i ended up like this." Weiss looks up at us. "Y...you really don't know me as good as you think you do." she says, then looking towards me. "And...Ruby...I'm so sorry for being how I was the first time I met you, and past that...for all the times I have treated you..that...that's not me. I swear on it. Yet at the same time..." Weiss struggles to speak "I...I've never been able to truly be myself and say how much I...How much I truly do care for you all! You...I really do consider you all my friends, I really do! And, Ruby..." she tries to take a moment to calm herself down. "I...y...I...I would...and I sort of..I...do consider...you to...I consider you also to be my BFF, alright?" she says, struggling to speak she's so emotional "and it's just all this on this stupid island has made me...made me finally wake up too late and...I'm just soo sorry..."

Weiss bends her head down and starts crying more. I pull myself out of my sleeping bag, and immediately put my arms around Weiss, hugging her. "Hey, don't worry." I say, and she stops crying "I...I always knew you were... you never did get it easy, like everybody thought you did. I... I never blamed you for any of the ways you acted, or act...I just know it's a side effect of being your friend. And, whether you outwardly...approved of it or not...i always called you my BFF. You'll always be that to me. Regardless of how...how much of...how you behave. I know you, Weiss. You're not as bad as you think you are."

Weiss...she smiles, wrapping her arms around me. "T..thank you..." she says, crying again. I'm crying a little myself now. "...If I may..." Blake says, and I stop my embrace of Weiss and turn to Blake, keeping an arm around Weiss's shoulder, however. "...Weiss isn't the only one who's been thinking like that." Blake's started tearing up as well. "I...i didn't think I'd have the friends I do in you guys...I... I was pretty high up in the White Fang...basically, second-in-command. I... I've killed people. Done horrible things...and yet you all look beyond that. I... I didn't think I'd ever find mercy and forgiveness like that in other people...especially humans. N-no offense...ya know..."

"We know, Blake." Yang says with a warm smile. Blake returns it to us. "I... I swore up and down in my life that if anybody found out anything about who and what I am, I... might as well be dead. I hate my past self as well, Weiss." she says, looking at Weiss and me. "I hate my current self too. I don't like how reserved I am...but...at the same time...i guess it's not just caused on by trying to conceal a dark past. I...guess it's just me. And...because you all...look past everything I've done...everything that makes me truly feel like a no-life... and you treat me so well and as your friend...I swear you're all the most kind-hearted people I've ever met in my damn life...even you, Weiss." Weiss smiles back at Blake. "I... I love being your friend, Blake. I worry about you too much...I think we all do. You never say much, and...it just worries us because we never really know how you're feeling...sometimes, anyway...but we often have a good general judgment. Nobody cares about what you've done in the past, Blake. That's not you anymore. The real you...you said it yourself. You don't want to hurt people. You're so kind-hearted and friendly! And...sometimes you're just as weird and spontaneous as Yang!" We all laugh at this, and Weiss continues. "Regardless if you're a Faunus, ex-White-Fang-second-in-command, or whatever else you want to call yourself because of your past. You're Blake Belladonna, member of Team RWBY...and an incredibly kind person. That's the Blake we know and love. That's you. That's all you'll ever be."

"T...thank you. Truly...thank you."

"Heh..." Yang says "I...I'm more than spontaneous. I'll drop it out there. Sometimes I'm just stupid...like when you had to save me today, sis. It's more than just blonde...sometimes people aren't far off when they call me a bimbo...at least I feel like it, sometimes. Being the...spontaneous freespirit I am...I don't understand how you can put up with me sometimes. Ruby I can, because she's been with me all her life. I...heh...sometimes I judge myself, you know? Not just for stupid things I've done in the past. Just because I'm a freespirited flirt doesn't mean I can go around dressed like a cowgirl stripper-"

"You're not a stripper!" I interrupt. "You're Yang. That's you. You're...wild, in a good way. As people say...blondes have more fun...and you have ALOT of fun, sis. I...can't blame you for anything that you do. I just...well, you're my big sister. In my mind, you can't do anything wrong...and you haven't."

"Heh, and besides. I can't be the only one of the team being comic relief." Blake says, and we all laugh again. Yang smiles "heh...thanks girls."

"And...like what you've all been saying..." I say "I...i just am really happy and thankful for you guys as friends too. Weiss, I'll admit...you scared me when I met you...and...i was just nervous being at a new place by myself...no friends...I was trying too hard to make friends...i guess I was pretty annoying, huh?"

"I...i sympathize with you on it." Weiss says "I...I know you can be annoying...but that's just you. Like how Blake's always quiet and Yang is always...Yang." we all chuckle. I turn to Blake "Speaking of you, Blake, when we first met, I thought you were a really nice person. Honest! You...looked really calm, smart, and...well..friendly. Even if I was bothering your reading. I...was actually hoping to run into you as my partner in the Emerald Forest...but I was just worried I wouldn't be able to hold a conversation with you...I still do."

"Heh...you and I are going to sit down and have a nice talk one of these days." Blake says with a smile. I return it "can't wait for it."

I let go of Weiss and crawl back over to my sleeping bag. The others slowly lower themselves back down into their sleeping bags, feeling much more at ease. Once again, I slide into my sleeping bag, then unhook the lantern from the stand, and blow out the light.


	9. Chapter 8

I awake feeling incredibly rested. I shift in my sleeping bag a moment, before slowly righting myself with a stretch and yawn. Strangely enough, just as I do this, everybody else starts waking up too I give a groggy smile "good morning, all." I say.  
"Good morning indeed..." Weiss says in a satisfied tone with a stretch. "That...was a really good night's sleep, surprisingly. From what I can see, you all slept pretty well too, right?"

"Damn good." Yang says. "About what time did we hit the sack last night?"

I look at my implant "Around 9:30. It's 6:30 now."

"Nine hours of good sleep..." Weiss says "I...we actually got nine hours of peaceful, relaxing sleep on the ARK. I don't know how, but we did."

"After everything that's happened?...I think we deserve it." Blake says smiling warmly. We all begin to climb out of our sleeping bags and slowly walk towards the door. I'm the first to the door, and open it slowly, pushing my way out. White Fang is already up and about, and we find him pacing around near the fireplace. Quru's also up, and he apparently found himself a snack: an ant soldier, which he holds in his mouth with pompous pride. Ember's awake as well, lying on the ground at first. When she sees me, she quickly stands, then trots over to me as I'm out the door. "Hey you..." I say to her, petting her head. "Good morning pretty girl."

White Fang moves over to Blake and begins to rub against her legs like he were a big cat, to which Blake smiles. Weiss looks around for a moment...and finds Nightshade and Sans side-by-side in the patch of bushes, fast asleep. She carefully moves her way on over, which wakes them both up. "Sorry..." she says "Just checking up on you, Sans. You alright?"

Sans is a bit more awake than Nightshade is. He allows Weiss to get a good look at his wound, which has started healing up. Weiss stares at the wound – which has now at least scabbed over – and gives an uneasy, but relieved sigh. "Alright. At least it's better than last night. If you need anything, please let us know. We're worried sick about you and that thing". Sans seems to understand, and lays his head back down onto the ground as Nightshade does. I'm curious what Yang is up to. I turn around, and see her leaning against the exterior wall of the hut. She's looking into her reflection in her spyglass, and...looking at her own hair. I sigh, and walk on over to my sister. "...so..." I say uneasy. "Is...it bad?"

"...strangely...yes and no." Yang replies.

"Yes and no?" Weiss asks as she and Blake walk over. Yang shrugs "Before the ARK...I was sort of thinking it was time to get a trim anyways...last I saw my reflection before last night, looked like my hair grew a little more than how I'd like...so...again...yes and no?"

I sigh, shaking my head "Whatever works, Yang." Yang smiles, and then starts toying with her Implant, then going to the Engrams screen, and just starts rolling down. We've all leveled a lot from recently...and we all got a big boost from the Primal Therizinosaur fight as well. Blake and I are in our low 80s, Weiss and Yang in their 40s. Blake and I have access to engrams they don't yet. Yang snickers "look at all these nifty things we can learn. There's like...a zillion different saddles...that looks like a rifle of some sort...OK, that's definitely a freaking minigun turret...that's...some sort of industrial grill, I think...and...wha?..." Yang tilts her head "There...are engrams at the end of all the really high ones...that I can get to."

The rest of us pull up our Engram screens as we do so. Sure enough, there's a ton of different things at the end...of all kinds of strange variety. "Pearl beds", solar panels, iron bar fences...a wood-cook stove...a pantry...T-rex armor?...and something called a "building X-tras constructor", just to name a few. "I guess it's like...just nifty little bonus stuff?" I ask...there's so much variety I don't even really know what I want to learn, or what's practical for the moment. Neither Blake and I have used any of our engram points on them...but we see that some of these bonus stuff cost no engram points at all...yet still, is it practical to learn them at our level? Weiss is browsing through hers... and then I see her start tapping the screen, confirming to learn engrams. "What are you doing?" I ask.

"Learning that Stone Cutting Board and the meat recipes that go with it." she replies "the recipes I can see look fairly simple, and it looks like they are better than the standard cooked meat we have...besides, maybe we deserve to start eating a little better after yesterday?"

"I can second that." Yang says, and instinctively, her stomach growls. We laugh. "Well then." Blake says "I'm hopping on White Fang and taking a good bath this morning to clean up from last night, before breakfast. What about you three?"

"I might as well do the same when you get back." I say, then turn to Yang "and for sake of time, you can take Ember when it's your turn, Yang."

"Gee, thanks sis! I promise I'll take good care of her." she says teasing. Weiss smiles "guess I'll be last this time. I don't mind. Gives me time to start gathering from the bushes for berries."

"But those two are sleepin' in the berry patch!" I say making a somewhat funny face, and pointing towards Sans and Nightshade. Weiss smiles "I know, but right out front of the rock there's another berry patch. I'm going to pick a few there. Would you two mind getting a fire going and cooking up a few more pieces of meat for me?" she asks us. I salute, a smile on my face "I will do my duty to help make a hearty breakfast!" I say happily. Yang follows suit after me "As you order, queen of the culinary arts!" she says. Weiss smirks "Cut it out you two".

I...really don't understand those two at times. I guess it's because of their sisterly bond. Yet...what Winter and I share isn't exactly the same...but I know it's something I can't share with anybody else. Yang and Ruby get a fire going as I head out towards the berry fields, my bow on my back, as well as a spear, for protection. Blake rides by me on White Fang for a moment as they dash off down towards the river. Soon I make my way over to the berry patch. Now...according to the recipes I know now...the yellow Amarberries only help the meat preserve...Azulberries make it a little better, but also restore some thirst...Tintoberries make the meat even richer in protein...and the purple Mejoberries make the whole thing taste better in all fields and benefits. I start plucking off Azul, Mejo, and Tintoberries as I go along, putting them away in my inventory as I do so, to make sure I gather as much I can. I still gather up some black Narcoberries for more narcotic...especially after last night. I gather what feels for around five minutes or a little longer. I'm gathering away, humming a tune, strangely enough, when just as I get to the "chorus" of the song-

"Mnrraaa."

A strange...goat-like bleat...right beside me. I turn to my left, and about two feet away from me is the face of this...small, two-legged dinosaur. It's probably six or so feet long, standing on two legs, with an armored back and a hard, dome-shaped head. It's a familiar shape, but I don't remember the name...He's apparently just here to do what I'm doing: forage from the bushes. He just decided to see what I was up to. He looks at me in my eyes for a few moments, and I can make out the ruddy brown creature as a male "Pachy". Now that sounds familiar...but it's probably a name that's hard to pronounce...i thought dinosaurs were cool as a kid, but I was never fully into them like some were. I kinda admit he's...kinda cool...and then I see his level: 52. That's a good tame...I decide to slowly separate myself from the Pachy, who watches me walk away, before going to browse from the bushes himself. I walk about 50 ft away, then turn around, and draw a tranquilizer arrow. He's not that big, so he shouldn't be too much trouble...looks like something that would rather flee than fight. I aim my shot...and let the string go. There's a whiz as the arrow hits the Pachy in the base of the neck. It stumbles a moment, making a few more goat-like noises, trying to figure out where it's been hit from. As it turns towards me, I give off another shot, which it hits it's right flank. The Pachy reacts from this, giving me time to fire another arrow, hitting it in the side of it's head. I go to grab another arrow from my quiver-...there are none. Just as I note this in shock, the Pachy suddenly gives a call, then flies towards me with it's head bent in a charge at an incredible speed I wouldn't think possible for it. I immediately break into a backwards run, but five steps in, my left foot hits my right heel, causing me to fumble. Suddenly, the Pachy slams it's head into my stomach, and I feel the complete wind knocked right out of me and I go flying about ten feet from the impact. I'm shocked about the pain I'm in. It feels as if Yang had punched me in the gut for no reason. My vision is foggy and I feel fatigued greatly...I can barely move. I slowly begin to right myself up into a siting position, before I hear another bleat, and then I'm hit again from the right, knocked back onto the ground, although not as hard this time. Damn thing is hitting me with blunt force damage AND rendering me unconscious. I'm so fatigued now I can't even lift my back off the ground. I roll my head to the right and...can vaguely make out a blurred shape, which is probably the Pachy charging me again, although not like the first time, with such ferocity. I reach with my left hand for anything...and I grab onto what must be a fallen tree branch, around four inches thick. I...i can't be killed by a damn goat-dinosaur! Just as it gets close to me, I roar at it, before suddenly smashing it in the head with the branch, which shatters on impact. The Pachy stops it's charge, shaking it's head a few times, takes a few steps back...then giving a strange, pitiful groan as it slumps to it's side...it's also out cold...and I can feel the fatigue and torpor from it's earlier hits coming in. I groan, laying in a semi-comatose state on the ground with this Pachy who I provoked. I give a strange groan "Ehh...sorry." I say, speaking out to it "I...kinda learned the hard way, though...but for your size you hit like a damn truck".

The Pachy gives a strange, low noise at me. "Huh?..." I say, before looking at my right hand. "Oh...the tree branch?...Yeah...like I said...sorry."

Slowly, I bend my right arm down into my pocket, pulling out some Mejoberries...but with some narco ones in the mix as well. I slowly bring my hand up to it's mouth, unable to move too quick myself. "Here..." I say "It's...what I can do for you as of now with the current situation."

The Pachy takes a moment, then eats some of the mixed berries from my hand. We lie there for about three full minutes, before I hear a noise...footsteps. I fear they're the footsteps of a small carnivore of some sort, but rather...

"PFFFFT! WHAT A RIOT!"

It's Yang, who's busted out laughing upon seeing me and the Pachy semi-comatose beside each other. Ruby's beside her as well, and shakes her head...but tries to hide her smile. "Heard your scream, Weiss..." she says. "You...you two having a moment?"

"I feel like I'm either drunk, hungover, or stoned." I say to her blandly. "You tell me."

"At least you're trying to get yourself a tame." Ruby says, adjusting the strap across her nose carefully. They bend down next to me and the Pachy, and while Yang puts some narcotics into the Pachy for me, Ruby pulls out a small bowl full of something. "Ok...you're NOT going to like the taste of this..." she says "but it should help."

"What is it?" I ask wearily in a tired voice. "Stimulant" she replies "it's apparently a lot better than feeding stimberries...but...i had myself a slight drop to taste earlier...it's got some severe kick."

"Whatever works..." I say. Ruby slowly brings the bowl to my mouth and I open it. It crosses my lips, but I don't taste anything...until I've swallowed some. Immediately, my eyes widen, and I lurch forwards, hitting the bowl, and looking over to my left, spitting onto the ground to my left, away from my Pachy. "GOD!" I say in disgust while spitting, I even try to use my teeth to scrape off the disgusting taste of the stimulant. "You weren't kidding about a kick! The heck was in that thing?! Sparkpowder?!"

"...yes...as the engram said..."

I notice the annoyance of Ruby's voice. I turn, and see...when I hit the bowl...I sent the contents splattering right onto her face. Yang's struggling to keep from laughing behind Ruby. I put my hand to my mouth. "Oh my gosh..." I say "I..I-I'm sorry!" Ruby smiles "Chill out, Weiss. Just a little mishap...all good..."

The three of us rise to our feet. I...I guess I'm still a little edgy from last night's confession time. I'm relieved Ruby's not angry...but then again, I don't think she'd get angry at something like that. Ruby shrugs "Well...guess I should just join Blake in the river, before this dries and starts flaking off...after all, we're all girls, right?"

"Last I checked." Yang says with a smile. I give an uneasy laugh "Yeah...again, sorry."

"No big deal, Weiss." she says. "You should be level enough to learn a Pachy saddle. Try it out. Yang?"

"Yep?"

"Do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"Do Weiss a favor and help make her the saddle?"

"I demand my own mount as payment." Yang says crossing her arms and giving a defiant, but mischievous smile, and stamping her right foot. "Yang, we're not going deeper into the mainland to go and get a Rex." I say with a smile. Yang turns to me "I don't want a Rex. At least...not now. I want something big, but still within our reach. Plus, it could help out with the work building the house. Is that too much to ask?"

"Not really." Ruby says, now agreeing with her sister "When I went down to the river with Ember while you all were doing the preserving bin, I came across a herd of Triceratops. How does that sound?"

"Cool...but not cool enough. I've got my eyes on something bigger."

"Bigger?" I ask.

"Remember before the Megalodon attacked that dumb Parasaur?" she says. "Across the bay, I could make out a vaguely familiar shape of a Stegosaurus. If they're on the other side of the bay, I'm thinking there has GOT to be some here on Cragg's Island."

"It's possible." Ruby says. "Regardless...i can feel this stuff hardening on my face...I'm out."

She quickly turns and begins running back to the house. "Ember!" she calls "Ember! C'mere, girl!"

Yang shakes her head and I give a slight chuckle. I open my implant, then check the Engrams. Sure enough, I CAN learn the Pachy saddle engram. Decide to learn that, and upon recapping the instructions in my head...i smile. "Huh." I say "seems like it takes the exact amount of materials as Ember's saddle did."

"Hm..." Yang says. "I think we've got all that. Lemme go check, alright? Stay here with your little buddy."

"Alright."

Yang turns and goes to get the needed materials. Just as she turns to go to back to the house, Ember and Ruby nearly run her over. "Sorry!" Ruby calls as she dashes off on Ember back towards the river. I chuckle as I turn back to my Pachy and lay by it, continuing to feed it, and stroking it's head. A couple minutes pass...Yang seems to be taking a while. Not that I blame her. I'm looking back towards the top of the hill, sitting on the ground with my legs to the left, leaning on my right arm. I'm wondering about Blake and Ruby...probably a little awkward for them, right now, I guess. I chuckle at the thought of this, before hearing something...footsteps...and then, a sudden hiss-! I remember that noise! I turn around behind me only to see a Dilophosaurus rearing up at my unconscious Pachy, it's frill outstretched. "NOT ON MY WATCH!" I roar, springing off of my feet and tackling the small dinosaur. It lands on it's side and I pin it down while holding it's mouth shut. It was attempting to spray it's venom, but I've clamped it's mouth shut as it tried to do so, now choking on it's own venom. It struggles under my weight as I try to pin it down. I can't move my right arm to try and grab a spear or arrow without letting it get some sort of leverage, and I don't have the arm strength that Yang does to snap the thing's neck. My only hope is that maybe I can hold it down long enough for it to choke to death on it's own spray. I try to keep it pinned, but my grip on it's mouth slips. Suddenly it frees it's mouth and bites my left hand, that once held it shut, and latches hold. I scream in the pain and grab the back of it's head as it rights itself and starts shaking. I reach back now to grab the spear from my back, but just then-

"MRA-ROAAAH!"

A familiar noise. Next I know, there's rapid footsteps, then my Pachy slams into the Dilophosaurus's right side from out of nowhere. At the moment of impact, I can feel the immense force of my Pachy's charge through the Dilo into my own body. I hear snapping in the Dilo's body as it lets go of my hand and flies off from the impact, ragdolling as it lands...it's dead easily. I look down onto my left hand, and carefully hold it with my right...i'll be fine. The hide gloves I wear have prevented it from getting any extensive wounding. I look up at my Pachy, who's looking at me now. "Heh...thanks." I say, to which it responds by...knocking it's head into mine. It's not hard, but...I hold my forehead in pain. "Hey! What was that for?!" It responds by giving me a bleat, before a more light, playful bonk to my stomach. I laugh. "Hey, I'm happy to love on ya, just none of that, alright?"

"Well that was fast." Yang says, making her presence known. I turn "Well, you kinda took a little bit..."

"Didn't have the wood for the job, so I chopped down an extra palm tree." she says "Oh...and I saw your quarterback tackle. NICELY done."

"Wait, what? You saw that?!" I say, getting a little angry "Why didn't you try and do anything!?"

"It was already getting up." she replies, pointing to my Pachy. "I mean...it sorta looked like you two had things under control."

I roll my eyes. "Suuuure...because having my hand in a the mouth of a Dilophosaurus is totally under control."

"Ey, chillout. Just wanted you to have your moment to shine."

"Well...I guess I did. Thanks for getting the materials for the saddle."

"Ah, it's nothin-OOF!" Yang's cut off by my Pachy pushing into her stomach. Yang carefully grabs his head and starts pushing him back, but he only starts pushing back harder. Yang laughs, crouching down, and proceeding to enter a shoving match with my Pachy. "You think he's going to be like this alot?" she asks, pushing back against my Pachy, with his head over her left shoulder, as she has her arms around it's body, pushing back. My Pachy is making all kinds of amused grunts as he pushes back against Yang. I grin "Anyway, I told him he shouldn't really play like that with me...but if you like it, feel free to wrestle with him as much as you'd like."

"Hah, thanks! Did you think of a name for him yet?"

"Kinda, yeah. I like Pachi."

"It is kinda cute...just like him in his own weird way!"

"Hey, think you can hold him there a moment? Gives me time to get the measurements for the saddle."

"Call him off real quick." Yang says with a bit of a laugh. "It'll let me get a breather."

"Fair enough. Pachi! Let up!" I say, and he stops pushing on Yang, who lets go. Pachi turns his head to me as I walk to him, then start doing the measurements with Yang as he occasionally proceeds to still give little headbutts every once and a while. As long as he's happy, I suppose. Once I've got that done, I back off. "Alright. I'll get to work. You two have at it."

No sooner than I say that, Yang can't even get a response out before Pachy marches right up to her and starts shoving again. Yang and Pachi keep wrestling with each other to their amusement as I start working on the saddle. Around five minutes later, those two are still going at it, and I've just finished Pachi's saddle. Just as I stand, I turn and see Blake and Ruby approaching on White Fang and Ember. They seem to note I have a new tame. Ruby smiles upon seeing Pachi and Yang going at it, to which she bursts into laughter. "So, I assume he's yours, Weiss?" She says, looking at me as she dismounts Ember, and Blake dismounts White Fang. I nod "Yeah. His name's Pachi...and he likes headbutting and shoving around...as you can see with Yang. They've been going for at least five minutes."

Blake smiles. "It makes sense. He's a Pachycephalosaurus."

"Pachywhaaaa?" Ruby says

"Pachycephalosaurus. Means 'Thick-headed lizard', for obvious reasons. As you can see, he does more than just sound like a goat...goats socialize, greet, and show affection towards each other by pushing and headbutting. Pachi's just happy to have somebody he can shove around with in Yang."

"The feeling is mutual!" Yang says, still pushing against Pachi, who seems to be calming down now. Yang lets go, and he backs up, and shakes himself a little. I turn "So Blake. Ruby didn't interrupt you or anything, did she?"

"Sort of...but I sympathized it as a 'girls' locker room' situation..."

"Yeah...sorry to barge in on you like that..." Ruby says, rubbing the back of her head "doing that and all...but somebody didn't like the taste of my little remedy I had for her unconsciousness."

"Hey, I said I was sorry." I say, putting the saddle onto Pachi. "and you said yourself said it was ok."

"Yeah, still...mucho awkwardo." Ruby says.

"Again, we're all girls here." Yang chimes in. Ruby turns around to her sister "Just because you have your little quirks and perks, Yang, doesn't mean the rest of would be as comfortable as you would be bathing naked in a river together!"

Yang pauses a moment. "...right. Sorry."

Pachi seems to adjust to his saddle well. He...doesn't look like he should really be able to carry me. He's not too much bigger than a Dilophosaurus. Carefully, I throw my right leg over Pachi...and he stands fine with me on him. I smile "Heh...he's stronger than he looks, trust me."

"Seeing that charge he did?" Yang says "I'm not surprised at all". Pachi begins to march around a little bit with me on him, eventually walking up towards the palm tree Ruby stands under. He looks at it a moment, before headbutting it once with a bleat. We're confused as to why he's done this, and then suddenly, something hits Ruby on the head. Immediately, she's dazed, standing fine a moment, then falls backwards onto the ground, legs flying into the air. Ember looks down, tilting her own head as she looks at a dazed Ruby Rose; then makes a happy, brief call as she bends down and then seems to "hug" Ruby, putting her arms around her, and proceeding to nuzzle and lick her unconscious owner; Yang bursts into laughter while I stand there shocked. "I swear, I didn't tell him to do anything!" I say quickly. Blake smiles, walking over to Ruby, with White Fang walking behind her. "You're alright." Blake says "He's just being a Pachy." she bends down and picks up the coconut that's bonked Ruby in the head. "Although I think I like the sound of coconuts with breakfast. What about you, Weiss?"

"Hmm...it would make a good substitute for drinking water all the time, and the 'meat' in them themselves wouldn't be half bad, either. More diversity for food, which is good."

Ruby's still conked out, all she does is make barely audible dizzied sounds as she lies flat on the ground. Blake shakes her head "either way...Yang, your turn."

"Right." Yang replies, and she whistles to Ember. Ember looks up, lets go of Ruby, then stands. Yang mounts Ember fairly easily. "Ey, Weiss." she says with a grin at me. I tilt my head "What?"

"Thanks for helping me steal Ruby's ride." she says, to which I just snicker, and Blake chuckles a little. With a tug on Ember's reigns, Yang dashes off. Blake shakes her head, then mounts White Fang again. "Well, i'll leave you two to finish your gathering." Blake says "I'm pretty sure you'll find a use for those coconuts."

"Probably." I say, shifting on Pachi. "What about...Ruby?" I ask, as I look down...and Ruby's still out cold. Blake grins "don't worry. I've got had an idea already." she turns to the nearby rocks towards the house, and brings her fingers to her mouth, uttering a whistle. "Hey! Quru!" she calls. Immediately, he makes a short call as his head pops up behind another rock. Blake gives another whistle and motions with her head to the unconscious Ruby, who continues to babble nonsense. Quru walks over as Blake starts heading back to the house, putting White into a standard walk. Quru, as he approaches Ruby, bends down, and grabs Ruby with his mouth by her right shoe, lifts her leg up a little, and then starts walking backwards, dragging the unconscious Ruby along the ground. I immediately cover my face with my right hand at this as I see Quru drag Ruby around the corner. I'm trying so hard to hold in my laughter. I simply shake my head, but then Pachi makes a noise that sounds like him chuckling, and I let one single laugh slip, as I grin, but catch the rest of my laughter. "Well, you heard Blake. Let's finish up here." I say to Pachi, who bleats in response. He backs up a little, then headbutts the tree again, sending a few more coconuts falling to the ground. I pick those up, then gather from the bushes a bit more, before heading back to the house, where Blake's got the fire going, and Ruby still unconscious, her head lying on one of the logs we have for benches. I give an uneasy sigh. "Is she going to be alright?"

"She's never been to right in the head anyway." Blake jests, to which I shoot her a look, but put my hands on my hips. Blake smiles "She'll be fine. So what about breakfast?"

"You mean, granted the current time, Brunch?" I reply. "Yeah, I'll get right to it." I go into the house for a moment to get the stone, wood, and fiber to make the stone cutting board. The board itself lies on two pieces of wood, strapped together with fiber, but...surprisingly, it looked pretty good. I headed back outside to see...Blake by the fire...with White Fang...and Quru, as well as Ozpin...all of them still staring at a conked-out Ruby...dang, she...does not regain consciousness easily. I stepped down from the edge of the house and walked over, setting the board down, before taking some cooked meat from Blake, I began to start flavoring and seasoning them with the juices from the berries. Blake has been watching me work diligently, intrigued by what I'm doing. A really flavorful aroma began to whirl through the air...suddenly, Ruby sits up alert. "Food? I smell food. Good food." she quickly says, to which Blake chuckles, bending her head. I smirk "about time you woke up. How many stars could you count?"

"The stars had stars..." Ruby says, rubbing the back of her head. Blake grins a little bit, to which Ruby tilts her head. "What?...what's up?" she says confused. Blake reaches over with her right hand, index finger drawn, and pushes a bump on Ruby's head back down, to which Ruby feels the pain. "Owwww..." she whines. "First my nose now my head...what's next?"

"Your neck?" Blake jests.

"Your legs?" I tease. Ruby shudders "Ok...c...can I have food please?"

I chuckle "Sure. I've got flavored meat with different little perks. Pick your poison."

"Perks?..." Ruby says looking at the meat, crawling over. I sigh "Mejo meat is tastier, Tinto meat is higher protein and easier healing, and Azul meat also replenishes thirst a little."

"What about the ones you made with the yellow berries?" Ruby asks.

"The Amar meat? It just doesn't spoil for a longer period of time".

"Ahh...well granted the...ouchies I have...I'll take this!" she says, snatching a piece of Tintoberry meat and tearing into it. I smile, taking some meat for myself. Blake does too...and I'm happy that its turned out so well, and that everybody likes it. "Let's leave some for Yang, alright?" I say. "She needs to eat too."

Soon enough, Yang comes back from the river, and then Weiss herself rides off with Pachi to go and take her own turn bathing. Throughout breakfast, I struggle with the pain coming from my head...but it helps when Blake gives me the very same coconut that bonked me in my head, and I tear into the thing, drinking and eating it to just the outer shell in spite.. By the time Weiss returns, I feel much better, with the pain in my head gone. Weiss turns to Yang as she rides close, on Pachi "Hey Yang." she says "Didn't you say you wanted a Stegosaurus?" she asks. Yang smiles "Yeah,what? You find one?"

"Actually, yes. A level 62 female is down by the river right now."

"Sixty-two?!" Yang says, springing up from the log she was sitting on "Hella yeah!".

"You're too eager, sis." I say. Yang quickly turns to me "I'm just tired of being left out!" she replies, to which she responds by stretching, leaning backwards, arms in the air behind her, then putting her right hand on her hip, flipping her hat onto her head. "I'm ready for some dino-wrangling. Are ya'll?"

"Yep. Like you said...you've got to get something too." I say standing. Blake gets up from sitting as well "We've got some more tranq arrows, so i'm fairly sure we can get you one. Even if it is such high level. We should have the resources. So long as we work together, we should easily be able to get it for you."

"A stego before rex, and a ya'lls mounts before...whatever." Yang says. "We all got to start somewhere."

"I want nothing more than Ember." I state, giving a smug smile. Ember's been standing next to me happily, and I swing my leg over her. "She's my pretty girl, and all I want and need." Ember seems to chortle in agreement. Weiss rubs the top of Pachi's head "I'm good with Pachi for now, myself. Granted there has to be something a few tiers up for me. Not that I'm not eager to get something else, ya know?"

"White Fang's also fine with me." Blake says, rubbing the top of his head, then slinging herself onto him. "Besides. I like the idea of a big agile lizard."

"Oxymoronic, isn't it?" Weiss asks, to which Blake nods. Suddenly, my face lights up with a smile.

"Ey, Blake! I think I know what you'd like!" I say. She turns to me "What's that?" she asks, adjusting her grip on White Fang's reigns. "A Sabertooth Tiger!" I reply. The others smile at me, and Blake pauses a moment. "...I could see me with one. Other than the fact of my...faunus resemblance." she says. "Although I don't think we'll find any around here. Maybe higher in the mountains."

The four of us begin to head down to the river once again. As we crest the top of the hill, we look down and across the river...sure enough, as Weiss said, there's one there. It's on the other side of the river, walking alongside it at first, before turning to it, lowering it's head, and beginning to drink. It's body is a greyish-green color, the top of it's body a darker green, and it's plates a crisp, light bluish-green. Just above it's hips, it has a smaller row of plates, and towards the end of it's tail, three pairs of spikes. It's oblivious to us as of now. Yang's grinning from ear to ear, and takes out her bow as we now walk on level ground. Blake shakes her head with a smile as we all take out our own bows. "I don't think it will be too terribly fast." she says "Just don't hit the plates, and watch for that tail." We heed her advice as Yang raises her bow, ready to take the first shot. She takes a moment...I know ranged weapons aren't her thing,so she tries to make her shot the best she can. Finally, she lets the arrow go. It flies straight and true, hitting the Stegosaurus in the back of it's neck. It steps back startled, making a low grunt as it shakes itself. Next it knows, it's pelted by a volley of three arrows from the rest of us. It looks up at us with an irritated look, before giving a bellow and beginning to charge straight through the water towards us at a fair pace. It continues it's advance as it continues to take our consistent volley, before starting to spread out as it gets closer. Soon enough, the Stegosaurus finds itself caught in the middle of a circle surrounded by us, with White Fang, Ember, and Pachi giving growls and roars in agitated anger. The Stegosaurus tries to stand it's ground, and it ends up constantly turning towards different ones of us at different times, tail raised. It doesn't really know what to do in this situation: probably because it's never been in something like this before. Often it takes a hit from the side, and swings it's tail the direction of the impact, only to hit nothing. I feel bad for the poor thing in a way. The Stego turns towards Yang, and begins bellowing a few times...it has it's left lank turned towards Weiss...who suddenly gets an idea. She quickly puts her bow back on her back, and tugs on Pachi's reigns. Pachi turns around, and walks a good distance back, before they turn towards the Stego. Weiss gives off a whistle, to which Pachi responds by shaking and giving a war-cry, before suddenly charging with his head bent down at the Stegosaurus with impressive speed. Out of nowhere, they slam into the Stegosaurus, who seems to take a surprisingly big hit, suddenly shifting to the right, from the force of the impact. It looks to it's left and swings it's tail quickly towards itself, but Pachi and Weiss duck out of the way, running just under it's tail, and out to safety again. After swinging it's tail, the Stegosaurus starts to drowsily shift it's weight to and fro, struggling to stand, before finally collapsing onto it's right side. Fairly easy enough. We carefully approach the unconscious creature...it's definitely out cold. With a sigh of relief, I dismount Ember and start putting some narcotic into the downed Stegosaurus. I turn to see my sister on one knee, looking into the eye of the stegosaurus. She carefully puts her right hand on it's head, a huge smile on her face. She...she's not as ecstatic as I thought she'd be...but she's more of in awe of the creature that is going to end up being her own. We've brought some berries with us, but they're probably not enough for the job. Putting what we have in the stegosaur's inventory, Weiss and Blake volunteer, and go off with Pachi and White Fang to the nearby berry bushes to gather more berries, preferably , Mejoberries. I stay with Yang to help watch over and protect the Stegosaurus...who's coming along fairly slowly. I have a bow out with an arrow drawn, and carefully eye the area surrounding us in a slow patrol. A few minutes pass, and I'm curious how Yang is doing. Walking over to the other side of the Stegosaurus, I see her sitting next to it's head, stroking her Stego's head...but she has a strange, worried, or...concerned look on her face. I can tell there's something wrong. I tilt my head at my sister, lowering my bow. "What's wrong, Yang?" I ask. She sighs, then turns to me, obviously something on her mind. "Nothing." she replies "I'm...alright."

"Yang, something's on your mind. I'm your sister. You can tell me."

"I'm alright sis. Take it easy. I'm fine."

I just know it's a lie. I try to think. What could have Yang so apparently down in the dumps?...Can't be the fight with the Therizinosaur or Sans, both of those are past, and she was smiling then. Was it her hair?...she'd be more furious if anything if she was, but she said she was ok with it kinda in the end. The unsatisfaction of getting a stegosaurus?...no, she seemed excited for that. Was it our general situation?...no, she couldn't be upset about that, we've been fine, and today's been great. I'm trying to desperately figure out what's on my sister's mind, I try looking at anything and everything. She's not lonely, she couldn't be missing Remnant, what's she so...-! My eyes widen, and I slowly lower my left hand, which I had to my mouth, as I thought. "O...OH." I say. Yang looks at me, and my look of realization and...seemingly shock. "What's up with you, sis?" I turn towards my sister, and try to think of what to say. I look around a bit "Well...how do I put this..." I say, rubbing the back of my head. "...you know how I said that because you're my sister, as far as i'm concerned, you can't do anything wrong?"

"Yeah. What about that?"

"Well...that includes...I don't care...if..." I take a moment, then finally sigh "I don't care if you're half-and-half or not, or how loose you are."

Yang stares at me with a wide-eyed look of shock, that i'd actually get what's on her mind. I give a strange smile, the move over to her, and sit next to her. "I...didn't mean to sound like I was...you know...antagonistic against that. I...I won't lie, I don't get the idea and I personally think it's weird, but... ya know, you're weird." I say with a strange smile "and not that I mean that as an insult, it's just...well, you're Yang. You...you've always been a freespirit, and...I love you for it. Just because you have your quirks and preferences doesn't mean anything to me. It...just makes you more unique. I...honestly don't care if you're straighter than a line or all kinds of curvy in any way, shape, or definition. I...I couldn't care a hell less. Just as long as you're not an addict, I think I'd be fine...and besides...even if you were...I'd still love you. I said it once, I'll say it again...you're my sister, Yang. My sister, and you've been there for me so much! I know you! You can never do anything wrong in my book!"

Yang...she closes her eyes and looks down for a moment...a tear comes out of her right eye, and she turns towards me, her eyes open again. "I said during confession time last night I know I'm...strange. Again, I'll say this once more...I'm beyond relieved you all put up with me."

" 'Put up with you'?" I say "Yang...it's not that. We're your friends. Friends don't... 'put up with' each other. We...I don't know...we see through each other to the true worth, I guess. Weiss is stingy, selfish, and cold...but she's also careful, caring, and warm. Blake is dark, silent, and lonely...but she's cheery, wise, and very friendly. You...you're wild, rambunctious, and hot-headed...but you're also calm, mature, and gentle. We don't really care about the 'bad' attributes of each other...and only care about that which is truly redeeming. What truly makes you a person. Those are friends. There's a friend that's even closer than a sister...those are Weiss and Blake. And then...there's a true sibling that's even closer than a true friend. That's you, Yang." I smile "and hey, if we're going to be all by our lonesome on this island...I can't stop you from looking for someone to care about that way towards...we're all going to get lonely at times, even with the four of us. If you...truly care about...her like that...then I'm fine with it."

"C...'care about her like that'?" Yang stammers. I smile "I can see it, Yang...and you've got my support. Weiss's...and Blake's too. If anybody else were to show up on the island...if we didn't turn out to be alone after all, and that person began to belittle you for such choices...you wouldn't be the only one kicking their ass. Weiss and Blake would be in with us on that, as well."

Yang smiles at me. "Heh...thank you. I...I really mean that. It...damn...heh...it's strange. To myself I'm just like 'pfft, whatever, I'm a little loose and I like girls too', but...talking to you it's...heh...a struggle."

"I'll admit, I...am very uncomfortable having this conversation with you...but... i'm also relieved that i'm letting you know I still care for you. Y...ya know?"

"Yeah, Ruby. I know."

I smile, and stand onto my feet again. "Well, I'm going off for a moment...stay here with her, alright?"

"Of course." She replies. I turn and walk over to Blake and Weiss, who are gathering from the bushes. "Hey, Blake?" I ask. She straightens her back from browsing on lower bushes, and turns to me. "Yes?"

"Swap out with me for a sec. Yang wants to talk to you."

"Hmm. Alright." She says, receiving gathered berries from Weiss, before heading over. Weiss looks over at Blake as she walks up to an unsuspecting Yang. Weiss tilts her head. "What's up?" she asks me. I give a soft smile. "Just watch and listen...but try and act like we're still gathering, alright?"

"O...k..." Weiss says. "What did you do?"

"I did a thing." I reply, starting to browse from the bushes. "I did a needed thing."

Yang's stroking the head of the Stegosaurus, when suddenly she hears Blake's voice "Hey Yang". She turns to see Blake, and looks up at her, smiling. "Oh, Hey Blake. What's up?"

"Nothing much. Just dropping some food for the stegosaur off." she says, putting the berries from her inventory into it's own. "Yang, Ruby said you wanted to talk to me. What's up?

"  
"S-she did?!" Yang stammers. This catches Blake by surprise. "So...you didn't want to talk to me?"

"I..uh...er..." Yang struggles to speak, but then takes a moment, and sighs. "Yes...but... I didn't have the balls to do it myself, so...Ruby sent you over for me."

"Ok..." Blake says, struggling to understand. "So...you do want to talk to me?"

"Yes."

"Alright, what's the issue?"

"Nothing much...err..." Yang rubs the back of her head. "Well...Ruby and I just had a talk and..."

"And what?..."

Yang sighs "Remember the dance back at Beacon?"

"Yes, quite. What about it?"

"I...um...*sigh*...there was more...than just me being your friend and concerned for you...behind...me asking you to the dance."

Blake is still confused...and then suddenly her eyes widen. "O...oh. Oh! Uh..." her face quickly becomes red. "I-I...uh...wow..." she then rubs the back of her own head. "Y...you're honest?..."

"...yeah, honest." Yang says, with a strange smile on her face. Blake is...completely speechless. Yang sighs, then continues to stroke the head of her Stegosaurus, looking at it. Just then, Blake bends down on the other side of the Stegosaur's head, and then starts petting the Stegosaurus. "So...you're certain you feel that way for me?"

"Y...yeah." Yang stammers, incredibly uncomfortable. "I...I was at first only doing it to be funny, and a friend, but...then...i realized there was more to it. I...I don't know if it's all rooted because of how carefree I am or not, but...I...yeah..."

Yang looks back at the head of her stegosaurus, who's right in the middle of this sensitive conversation...and, for some reason, I feel like it isn't oblivious to it, either. She continues to pet it, looking down, unable to look Blake in the face. "Well...you want to know what I have to say to that?"

Blake replies. Yang sighs "We...said we'd always be honest with each other. You've been honest about the White Fang and everything else...didn't bother us in the end. How much can this hurt?"

"Well...I don't think it will hurt."

"And why's that?"

Yang continues to pet her stegosaurus to distract her...until Blake rests her hand atop Yang's hand. "Because...the feeling is mutual."

Yang's frozen stiff at first. She...can't move. Blake gives an uneasy sigh "Hey. I don't like it if you can't look me in the eyes, or at least my face." Yang slowly looks up into Blake's red, but smiling face. "Y...you're honest?" Yang asks "W...what about you and Sun?"

"Sun?...heh, he's a dork. N...no detriment to him...but...I think i'm...in your same boat. I noted something about you, and over time...I think I just found out something that...well...made me realize how dear you really are to me. I...I can't tell what I have is exactly, if it's just extreme fondness or...but...i've got...something for you." She gives a strange laugh "You know...I've had my heart broken by a guy before...who did more than just break my heart, but betray me, lie to me, and try to make me like him...and dare to continue to call me his love. I...i want nothing to do with somebody like that. Yet, if that is how my first experience with a guy is going to be...screw it. I'll give up all hopes of being straight."

Yang snickers and laughs, to which Blake does similarly. "I'm not kidding, in part. I don't ever want to see his face again...but if I need to...I won't run from him anymore...heh, as far as I'm concerned, I'm as far away from him as I'll ever be. I'm grateful for that."

"Heh...how are you so light-hearted about this?"

"One of us has to be. Although...I...I don't think I'm as 100% as you might be-"

"You're just a poor little kitten dying for affection, right?" Yang jests. Blake snickers "As I said last night...i never thought I'd have the friends I do in you. Thank you for that."

"It's nothing, Blake. So...how do you want to go about this?..."

"Well...granted our own uncertainties...ordeals only help forge even stronger bonds. I'd say a dinosaur island apocalypse is probably one heck of an ordeal...granted last night, I think...we're getting there, whatever's planned for us, anyway."

"Heh, to hear Weiss break like that..." Yang says, shaking her head. "But...it was wonderful to hear her speak such things...same goes for you, Blake."

"And you, too. Yet, as you asked, and I was saying...let's just see how this all works out. Whether or not we get any closer together...just know that at the least I'll always be a faithful friend."

"Are you playing matchmaker or something?" Weiss says low, turning to me with a smile. "No, not quite." I say "I'm...just trying to make people happy. Like they said. Whether they stay together or not, we'll all still be alright."

"I can see those two together though." Weiss says "I hope they work things out."

After gathering some more berries, Weiss and I make our way over to Blake and Yang. We put the rest of the berries in the Stegosaur's inventory, make sure it's still under plenty of sedation, then begin to talk among ourselves to pass the time. As we talk happily away with each other, Blake looks to the river...and then locks her gaze on it. White Fang was lying his head across Blake's lap, and looks up at his owner. Blake gives a low whistle to White Fang, who turns his head towards the river...soon enough, he too is locked onto whatever it is Blake is seeing. "What is it, Blake?" I ask, but she doesn't reply. Suddenly, she takes a spear off her back and gives a high-pitched whistle, and she and White Fang spring onto their feet, and dash towards the river. White is obviously the first to the river and dives in with a leap. Blake's right behind him, diving head-first into the river. I don't know what's going on, but then the water suddenly explodes with a commotion within it. We quickly stand on our feet as we see violent splashes again and again, a glimpse of White Fang or Blake...and something else. We dash down to the river, and just as we do, all goes quiet...and there's blood in the water. We don't know what's just happened, but now the water is partially red with blood. Suddenly, Blake surfaces from the water, White Fang near her. "What was all that about?!" Weiss says in a panicked tone. Blake's huffing "I'm sorry, it's just that...heh. I think it's better to show you. Yang, mind lending White and I a hand?"

"Sure..." Yang says, a little weary, walking into the water to meet up with Blake. "So...what exactly am I helping you with?"

"Look underwater." Blake says with a smile. Yang's now chest-deep in the river with Blake. She crouches underwater to examine what's going on...suddenly, she quickly rises to her feet, bursting into laughter "HOLY SHIT!" She says with a big smile on her face. Blake also starts laughing "What is it?" I ask. "BIG ass coelocanth!" Yang says, before diving underwater. White also dives, before Blake turns and grabs something under the surface. With help from Yang and White Fang, Blake hauls ashore the biggest fish I've seen in my life, to Weiss and my shock. I'm staring at this thing with a shocked, but happy smile – as is Weiss – as they haul it onto the shore. "Look at this thing!" Yang says, lying on the ground next to it. It's over two times her height in length, making it at LEAST 10-12ft long! "This thing HAS to be like...600 lbs or something!" she says with a huge smile on her face. The coelocanth's mouth is big enough it looks like it could swallow me head-first whole. I laugh "Leave it to Blake to focus on something like this and immediately attack...granted how much you love that meat."

"You'll be eating for DAYS!" Yang says laughing. Blake shakes her head. "We will be eating for days." She replies "And, remembering how much healthier this meat is than most...and with Weiss taking up cooking...I decided I couldn't let it get away."

"Heh, well, I'll be able to do something with it." Weiss says winking "Just leave that for me when the time comes."

Noting how massive the fish is, we all work together to gather the meat from the fish, carving off large, succulent pieces of fish meat. I...I think i'm drooling a little from these pieces. I know there's such a thing here as "Raw Prime Meat", and this looks on par or even better with that "Raw Prime Fish", i'd say. I...I think i'm pulling Blake with how good this meat looks...heh, Blake's also showing extreme interest...but not drooling. We get the fish down to just it's head, the fins, and it's tail now. Crouched around it, we start wrapping up what we're doing with the fish. I look up into the face of my sister, who's smiling at me warmly-

"RYAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!"

Something roars, and my sister's face is immediately terrified. Whatever it was, it came from the forest behind Yang, and there's the sound of something big rapidly approaching. Yang and Blake look over their shoulders only to see something large and black burst from the forest. Immediately, all seven of us bolt from the giant Coelocanth carcass. The attacking creature is at least 30 ft long, with medium-length arms, which have three claws each, the "thumb" claw double the length of the others. At first I think it's a black Baryonyx, but its back is covered in glossy, black, downy feathers. There are quill-like feathers on the back of it's arms and the back of it's head, and it's head is thicker, wider, and a little shorter than a Baryonyx. We keep a fair distance as it suddenly opens it's mouth and latches on to the spine of the coelocanth, grabbing the fish with it's jaws and claws, lifting it into the air and gnawing on it profusely. After about ten or so ravenous bites, it's biting slows, as if it realizes that there's practically no meat on it. Still reared, it grabs the tail of the coelocanth with it's right arm, pulls the fish out of it's mouth, then sets it on the ground, tail still being held, and glances over the fish...no meat. It then turns towards us – who have just taken the meat from the fish – with a look of spite I couldn't think a dinosaur of uttering. From what we can see, it's a level 24 male "Megaraptor". It lets go of the fish, flexes it's claws, and roars at us with one hell of an ungodly roar, it's quill-feathers flaring up, standing on end in an incredibly frightening display. It roars constantly at us angrily, that we DARE steal all the meat from our own kill, which it wanted for itself. From the look on it's angry face it's made it's mind: It wants US instead! It suddenly charges at Weiss and I, claws outstretched. We draw our bows and begin our counter-assault as Pachi, Ember, and White Fang charge in. Even Pachi is agile enough to avoid the creature's bites and swipes as It begins frantically attacking those around it. Would White or Ember latch onto it, it would grab them and tear them off, only to get hit by something else in the process, which would divert it's rage to something else entirely. I'm shocked and terrified of this thing and it's aggression level. Soon, Blake and Weiss run in, switching their bows for Spears, and beginning to violently attack alongside our tames. The Megaraptor continues to attack violently, swinging it's arms and tail to and fro, trying to crush the attackers under it's feet, and trying to constantly bite those around it. Suddenly, it pulls an impressive move, sweeping it's tail low to the ground in a 360 degree spin, knocking everybody either off their feet or away, except for Blake, who leaps up in a backflip over the tail. Just then, the Megaraptor roars, rearing up quickly, and slashes at Blake with it's right arm. Instantly, there's a look of pain on Blake's face as blood splatters from her stomach, the Megaraptor's largest claw piercing through her hide outfit, as well as her stomach, as she's smashed away back towards the Stegosaurus, which has it's left flank towards all this. She ragdolls upon impact with the ground, and small splatters of blood litter the ground from her impact. "BLAKE!" I scream out, and...I wasn't the only one who screamed that. Yang bursts into a complete rage, her hair aflame, and blasts straight at the Megaraptor, delivering a leaping right-haymaker to it's face. The Megaraptor is caught off-guard by this, and whirls around, mouth open. Yang avoids the attack, but is surprised by the Megaraptor's split-second reflex. In the same leap to it's left to grab her, it uses that momentum to suddenly leap at her on her left, grabbing hold of Yang with it's jaws. Yet, at that moment, it doesn't hold on to her for even a second, as an arrow comes flying from out of nowhere, hitting it in it's right eye. It instantly lets her go, and turns to see Blake, lying on her stomach, in front of the stegosaurus. Blake's still shot the Megaraptor in it's eye, allowing Yang to only get grazed by the creature's jaws, and escape easily, unhurt. The Megaraptor turns and begins to charge at Blake in anger at remarkable speed. Yang starts running after it, but then stops...the Megaraptor has stopped as well. Blake looks back behind her...to see the Stegosaurus rising. The Megaraptor roars over and over, quills displayed angrily. The stegosaurus looks down and to it's left, at wounded Blake, then...seems to grow very angry. It looks towards the Megaraptor and and bellows back at the Megaraptor in anger. The Megaraptor isn't pleased at all, and continues behaving aggressively. Yang's stegosaurus responds by continuing to bellow back, swinging it's tail in the air as a warning, occasionally slamming it into the ground beneath it. The Megaraptor seems slightly hesitant at first, but lets its rage control it's actions, suddenly charging at Blake and the Stegosaurus. Yang's Stego counters by suddenly turning around at an incredibly quick rate as the Megaraptor charges, the stego's tail bent with the swing. Just as it's back hips are in the right position, in this same, quick, brutal motion, the stegosaurus pushes off the ground with it's back feet, only it's front feet on the ground, using the momentum of the entire movement to power it's tail strike. The Megaraptor leaps, only to receive a vicious bash across the face with the stegosaur's tail spikes. There's blood on impact, and the force of the impact sends the Megaraptor flying back head-first with a shriek of pain around 30 ft away, landing onto it's side. The stegosaur continues through the whole motion, having done an impressive 360 degree maneuver, landing deftly with a loud tremor, Blake having been in no threat at all. All of us are shocked that something so big suddenly moved so quickly. Slowly, weakly, the Megaraptor pushes itself onto four legs, then stands up on two. The entire left side of it's face is gored and wounded. It gives a groan of pain, looking towards Yang's Stegosaurus, which continues to bellow, then at us, who are behaving just as antagonistically towards it. It gives what sounds like a whine, before quickly running back the way it came. Yang stands under a palm tree angrily. She looks back, then brings her arm back quickly, as if to ready a punch, hitting the tree with her elbow, causing a coconut to fall. "FUCKING COWARD!" she roars, as she punches the coconut while it falls, sending it flying at least a hundred miles an hour at the back of the fleeing Megaraptor's head. It cries out in pain, stumbling forwards, but not even daring to stop it's panicked escape as it dashes out of sight. Yang's the first one to Blake, who's rolled over onto her back, with Yang's stegosaurus looking down concerned at her. Yang quickly falls onto her knees and carefully puts an arm around Blake's back, slowly lifting her up. "Blake..." she says, her hair extinguished, speaking in fear. "Are...you ok?..." We've all gathered around her by now. Blake coughs to the side, coughing up some blood in the process. "That answer your question?" she says with a sarcastic tone. Yang's scared "I...I didn't...mean it like...i just-"

"I know, Yang." Blake replies. "I...I think I'm alright. Doesn't feel like it, though." I look up at Yang's stegosaurus. I just can't help but think...I stare into it's eyes. "That...that wasn't exactly just for you, was it?" I ask it, to which it mumbles in response. "What do you mean?" Weiss asks me. I smile "You know what I mean. That...that wasn't just a 'leave my friend alone' show there...that...was something a little more." Yang looks directly at her stegosaurus with...a look of gratitude. "I guess you really don't have a peanut-sized brain." she says "Thanks, Titania."

"Titania?" I ask. "Sounds nice for her."

"Regardless...let's get you taken care of, Blake." Yang says. "Can you stand, Blake?"

"Yeah...just going to need a little help." she says. Weiss gets the other side of Blake, and she and Yang help slowly lift Blake up onto her feet. "Let's get you cleaned up, alright?" Yang says, to which Blake nods. Slowly we help Blake to the riverside. She takes her shirt off, and we lie her down in the shallow water of the river. There's a large tear in her stomach from where the claw of the megaraptor punctured her stomach. The warm water seems to help ease Blake's pain, as Weiss and Yang start trying to clean Blake's wound. I...don't know what to do. I'm...frozen stiff in fear from seeing the extent of Blake's wound. The blood from her wound is washed out into the river, where a pool of red continues to gather, slowly growing larger and flowing downstream towards the ocean, as well as up the stream slowly. I...I quickly pull open my implant and try to check and see if there's anything I can learn about healing or the like. I quickly look up many kinds of ailments, one of which stands out: "Bleeding". Quite simply put, it explains that the victim's been gored, and looses blood for a set amount of time unless healed. Then I read, that even the most fatal wounds can be healed over time on the ARK with enough rest. Even broken legs from falling, or getting run through by a triceratops, healing to the point you were never wounded in the first place. I quickly take out some Tintoberry meat from earlier, handing it to Blake. "You're probably hungry." I say. "Here. Take this."

"Thank you..." she says, proceeding to wash her mouth out first with water, before starting to eat the piece of meat I've given her. Sure enough, her wound slowly begins to stop bleeding as much. A few minutes go by, and we're still cleaning Blake's wound. Remembering how our cloth gloves were made, I begin to make a long bandage to wrap around Blake's stomach for later. At least Blake's healing, which is a good thing. Just then, we hear the forest back up the river move again...something's coming our way. The thought races through our heads that the Megaraptor might be back, ready to try and finish Blake off...but, knowing how bad that thing noped the hell out after Titania smashed it with her tail, I don't think it's still quite over that trauma. Slowly, it emerges from the forest, near the river. It's on all fours at first, sniffing the water's edge, drawn by the scent of blood. It's...the Baryonyx from before! It continues to sniff the water before looking up, and seeing us...It the way it looks at us...it definitely remembers us. It's showing no signs of aggression, simply drawn here by the scent of blood, but no longer interested upon seeing us. She seems...well, just content with us. She turns towards the water's edge, and starts staring into it, as if to start fishing again. She patiently eyes the surface of the water as we continue to work on Blake with her nearby. By now I'm wrapping the bandage around Blake's stomach, with Yang helping Blake sit up, and assistance from Weiss in covering the wound with the bandage. All seems to be going well. Just then, a splash from further down the river gets my attention, and I turn to my left, looking down the river...there's nothing breaching the surface...and something just tells me something isn't right. "Hey...you all hear that?" I ask. Weiss looks downstream

"I...heard something." she says. We're trying to finish up with Blake's wound as quickly and carefully as we can...suddenly, near Blake, something emerges from the water...the familiar shape of a shark fin. "SHARK!" I scream, to which Blake immediately begins kicking onto her feet, but the pain from her wound drops her back to the floor. Weiss and I grab Blake and quickly try to hurry her onto her feet. Yang pulls out a spear and readies a furious jab at the shark's head...when suddenly, once again, the Baryonyx comes to the rescue, biting the large shark's middle. I can make it out as a level 3 "Squalicorax". It thrashes violently in the Baryonyx's grasp, as it's thrown then thrown to the opposite shoreline, where it flops about angrily, dying. The Baryonyx suddenly jabs at something else in the water with it's jaws, grabbing another Squalicorax right in front of it's tail fin, and lifting it out of the water tail first. It thrashes violently and latches on to the neck of the Baryonyx. We're still struggling to get Blake out of the water, due to the commotion, as well as her own pain. The Baryonyx flicks it's whole body to throw the Squalicorax into a nearby rock, the impact of which kills it, and sends it flopping onto the beach. Suddenly, there's a massive splash of water. The other two Squalicorax were only around 2 meters long...when suddenly a big one emerges from the foam of the water as we pull Blake ashore. This one is a full five meters in length: and it grabs a vicious hold of Blake's left leg. She screams in pain as the shark violently yanks itself and her to the left, deeper into the water and out of Weiss and my grasp. Weiss and I grab a firm hold of Blake once again just as she slips from us as Yang starts stabbing at the shark frantically. Once again, the Baryonyx attacks, grabbing and biting the shark's tail. White Fang is also very angry, and dives right in, biting the Squalicorax over it's gills on the left side of it's body. I swore with fangs like his, that bite from White Fang would be enough, but this shark is just too aggressive, and doesn't even flinch. It turns quickly into a violent tug of war, with Blake getting torn apart in the middle. She screams as the shark's teeth tear her left leg to shreds with it's thrashing. Suddenly, there's a large bellow, loud thwack, then a splatter of blood. I fear Blake's had her leg torn off, but that flees my mind as the shark goes limp. In the heat of the moment, with the adrenaline...nobody was aware of the fact Titania waded into the water and had delivered a violent attack with her tail. She stands to the left of us, in the water, facing back onto land. Her three tail spikes on the left side of her body are impaled into the shark's body, having impaled and gut the damn thing. It's curved teeth still have her mangled leg in it's jaws, to which Yang pries open with ease, the shark no longer alive. Yang opens the shark's mouth, then lifts Blake's bloodied leg off of the shark's lower jaws. Level in the 80s or not, Blake's gotten torn apart by the dead level 45 Squalicorax male. Her left leg's pantleg is practically nonexistent, and she's bleeding in several spots on her leg. It's a terrifying, bloody, mangled mess. I'm surprised her leg isn't torn off somehow. All of us are in a panic from this, especially Blake, who's breathing very sparratic with all the blood she's loosing...and then she suddenly stops hyperventilating...and goes limp.

"Blake?!" Yang says, shaking her "Blake?!" Weiss puts her ear over Blake's mouth "She...she's not breathing!"Weiss says. Immediately, Yang starts trying to perform CPR on Blake, as well as mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. She's going frantically: too frantically for it to be effective. "Yang you're not helping!" Weiss says, but is cut-off by Yang "SHUT THE HELL UP!" she roars, trying desperately to revive Blake. Weiss, in a fit of fury, slaps Yang across the face "YOU'RE NOT DOING IT RIGHT!"she snaps at Yang. Yang is furious, clenching her fists, then shakes her head in a fit "THEN WHAT ELSE DO I DO?!" she roars.

"Damnit, just let me do half of it and do it in the proper sequence!" Weiss snaps back, to which Yang understands. Yang performs resuscitation as Weiss takes over CPR. I'm...terrified. There's blood everywhere. I...I suddenly clench my fists, and rush over to Blake's wounded leg, and start trying to clean it as quicky and efficiently as I can, splashing up some clean water onto her leg, and keeping her leg elevated. "Blake!" Yang says, furious, and yet crying at the same time, between breaths of her own and attempts at resuscitation. "C'mon! Blake! Wake up! You'll be fine! Blake!? BLAKE!"


	10. Chapter 9

Several minutes later, we're back at the house. Blake lies with her eyes closed, on top of a sleeping bag, covered from the top of her chest down with a blanket. Yang leans on a wall nearby, and Weiss and I are on our knees near Blake, who's not moving. I...I can't help but feel...that maybe we could have done something more for her. Blake herself has her right arm in a makeshift sling, and her left leg wrapped into a makeshift cast. We worked relentlessly into the rest of the day, skipping over our lunch, even, on Blake's wounds...now we look at what our hard work has been rewarded with. Our faces are low, moods even lower. Yang bends down her head, and puts her right hand over her eyes. She breaks the extended period of silence. "This...this is just fucked up." Yang says, holding back tears "Fucked up...to fucking hell..."

"...Today I guess the ARK reminded us how cruel it is, I guess." Weiss states. "We...we're not exactly at the...i guess, progression level where we don't have to worry about much..."

"Regardless...We can't blame ourselves." I reply "We...we've done our best, and that's all we can do. Blake can't blame us for that."

"I still feel...responsible." Yang says, shaking her head. "Fucking...aliens...with their fucking ecology, their fucking history!...their...their fucking everything!"

"Yang!" Weiss says, standing slowly. "Calm down...we're all upset. No single one of us would be responsible for this anyway...we know how you're feeling, Yang...just...don't beat yourself up about it. We...we did our best."

"Our best wasn't enough." Yang says.

"Hey, I beg to differ." I say, standing, and smiling with empathy. "I mean...Blake's in stable condition now because of us. At least she's healing. Can't you feel good about that?"

"Yeah, just..." Yang shakes her head once again. "Just...doesn't make the feelings of guilt and shame go away." adjusts her stance, getting off of the thatch wall. "Regardless...i need to calm down from this for a bit. I'm going to go get some work done with Titania."

"I'll go with you." Weiss says "We can make her saddle together, and then get started with whatever you've got planned."

"Thank you." Yang says, turning towards the door, but stopping, and looking at me. "...take care of her, alright, sis?"

"Yeah, I will." I reply. "Don't worry about that."

Weiss grabs some materials from the storage boxes and heads outside with Yang, while I resume my duty as temporary nurse. I sit back on my knees next to Blake, who's asleep. I carefully bring her arms out from under her blanket and place them on top of the blanket, before then starting to look over her, worried, for a moment. We've been using narcotics to keep her unconscious while she heals, so she'd be ignorant of the pain...and, sure enough, it worked. We've been using only small doses of narcoberries now, to keep her under light sedation. My eyes are soon drawn to Blake's face. It's cut up in some spots, dirty, as well as having some dried blood on some spots. There's dirt and dried blood in her hair, as well as on her feline ears. I reach over to the side and grab a small bowl full of water, and small hand cloth. I get the cloth wet using the water in the bowl, wring out the excess water in the cloth, and begin to carefully and gingerly clean Blake's face. We worked hard to try and get Blake into stable condition, and in the end Yang ended up making clothes for Blake in her current state, a sleeveless cloth shirt that exposed her stomach, showing allowing access to Blake's wound and the bandage that covered it, then cloth shorts ending just above her knees, allowing easier access to her leg wound. It's predominantly the lower part of her leg, such as her calf, that was in the shark's jaws, being torn to shreds. The wounding down there was atrocious...yet, as I read about, the wound has thankfully been healing itself slowly. I'm appreciative of this, but keep my attention to carefully cleaning Blake's wounds on her face. Minutes go by, and I clean Blake's face quite well: the blood, and dirt gone from her ears, hair, and face. I'm very happy about this, as I put the rag aside and look onto Blake's resting face. Some of her hair comes down in bangs in a mess across the top of her head, and I take a moment to slowly brush them aside, and back into place...just then, Blake tilts her head to the left and mumbles. I quickly move my hand back...and sure enough, Blake slowly opens her tired eyes. "H...hgh?" She scans the area, her vision probably groggy. "W...what?...where?..."

"Blake!" I say low, but relieved. "You're...awake!"

"w...What happened?"

"We rushed you home as soon as we could then started working on your wounds the best we could. We knocked you out with some narcotic so you wouldn't feel the pain...we thought for a while we'd lost you, Blake...until we saw your body suddenly start putting up a massive fight...we knew we'd saved you then."

"H..h...heh...thank you." She says with a weak smile, before her face quickly falls. "I...i think...it was because of the dream I had."

"A dream?"

"A nightmare..." Blake says, slowly shifting her head a moment, closing her eyes as she recounts her terrifying dream "I...was waking up...just like this...and you three were gathered around me, but...you were angry."

"Us, angry with you?" I ask. Blake nods, and gulps, as if to moisten her throat, eyes still closed. "You...you all were furious with me. You...you started saying I was holding you all back, that I was better off dead." This...this stuns me silent, but Blake continues "I...you...you were furious with me. I...i tried to show that I would fight this, and I wouldn't let it hold me back...I...i tried to move my leg, I tried to sit up, but...the minute I tried to show any brave defiance towards this...you all suddenly attacked me."

"W...what?"

"Y...you grabbed me by my legs and dragged me out of the house where you started beating me...You burned me with flaming sticks from the fire...you took hatchets to my ankles and wrists to try and and cut off my hands and feet, but failed...W...Weiss was beating my head with a stone. Y...you stabbed me with a spear in a different part of my stomach, running me through...and Yang tried to take a hatchet to the back of my neck."

I...i'm terrified by this dream Blake is recounting. "I...this whole time in terror I was doing my best to try and show you all how alive I was, I was crying out for your mercy to stop...but you wouldn't. When Yang hit me in the back of my neck, it paralyzed me...you...you thought I was dead, but...I was still very alive. You grabbed me by my ankles and dragged me as cold and careless as you could, out into the forest...my body getting cut up from being dragged...and you threw me into a pre-dug grave. I landed on my back, the right side of my face to the ground, my eyes looking up at your silhouettes as you looked down into my hole at me, and...you started burying me alive. I...i twitched as much as I could, tried to speak with nothing coming out, I tried to move, I darted my eyes about to try and show you I was alive, hoping this was all a dream but it felt so real and...I remember it all, the sting of the dirt on my open eyes and-"

"Blake!" I say, quickly interrupting her, and causing her to open her eyes. "That's enough, please." I say with my voice obviously hinting to my extreme disturbed state upon hearing all this. "I don't care how real that felt. That was a god-forsaken nightmare. We're your friends, we'd never do that to you, and you're not a burden to us. We'll do our damnedest to keep you alive, we swear on our lives! We won't let you, or each other die, even if you do become a burden! We don't care. We love you, Blake! Get that fucking dream out of your damn head! That's not us!"

Blake...smiles at me again. "T...thank you." She says, crying. She looks down at her body. "S...so. How...bad am I?"

"You're putting up one hell of a defiant fight." I say with a warm smile. "Your stomach is healing up fine, as is your leg. The first healing better than the second..."

Blake looks and sees her right arm. "W...what happened with my arm?" she asks, slowly moving her left arm to her right, and resting her left hand atop her right arm. I give an uneasy sigh "We...didn't notice it at first, but...you...in the tug-of-war with the shark, you...it wrenched your arm out of it's socket, so we had to snap it back into place. That was the arm I was holding on...i feared the worst when I felt and heard that snap."

"Heh...damn. I got my ass torn up, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did..." I say smiling at Blake, who returns it. I slowly rise onto my feet, and walk on over to the preserving bin. I grab the handle on the door and turn to Blake. "So, Blake." I say, still smiling. "Are you hungry?"

"Starved." she says, a warm, weak smile on her face. I give a slight, uneasy laugh "heh...good. Yang and Weiss made you a little something special."

"Oh? What?"

"How does Cooked Prime Tinto Fish sound?" I ask. Blake sighs in contentment "Sounds like what I need right now." she says, weak, but eager for some. I open the preserving bin and take out a sizeable piece before closing the door and turning back to Blake. I put the meat in her open left hand, before helping her carefully into an upright resting position, stuffing my own sleeping bag behind her for support. She quickly begins to eat the meat, of which I can tell she's greatly enjoying. I smile "I think that's really, really good for you, granted your current state." I say. "Fish meat is naturally healthier, it's prime fish meat, and with the added Tintoberry effects that Weiss gave it...heh, you should be feeling better in no time."

"I already am." Blake says warmly, between a bite of cooked meat. She finished up the meat fairly quickly, before I pull out my waterskin, and hand it to her. "Thank you." She says, taking it and drinking heartily from it. I'm ok if she drinks the rest of my water...she needs it right now. I take the waterskin back from her, and then I note Blake looking down at her feet. "What?" I ask. "Do...you really want to see how bad it is?..."

"No, I can imagine, it's just...can you move the blanket off so I can see my legs?"

"sure."

I take the blanket off of Blake, who looks down to see the full extent of her wound. The bandages around her stomach are slightly red-and-black, with some discolored yellow...but not to the degree as the bandages around her left leg. They're a putred mix of black, red, and discolored yellow. I...i really want to throw up upon seeing this, but I hold it back. Blake's got a similar look of disgust, but looks past that, down to her bare feet. She starts flexing her foot and toes on her right leg, which is unhurt, at first, before then trying to do similar with her left foot. It twitches at first, before slowly responding, and copying her right foot's movements the best it can. It can't move to the same degree as her right can, or as fast...but it responds. I'm smiling with the fact that Blake's fighting so hard to get back into the action. She looks at her right hand, and then starts drumming her fingertips on her chest...sure enough, she's able to do so fairly easily. Blake looks up at me. "Think...you can make me a makeshift crutch?" she asks. I tilt my head "Hey, you just regained consciousness. Are you sure you're up to that?"

"I feel like it. I don't know about my body, but...only one way to find out."

"Alright." I say, standing with a smile. "If you want to fight it that much, like you did in your dream...I'll show you the real me and the real us. We'll help you fight it. Just take it easy a sec."

"Sure." she replies, and I head back over to one of the storage boxes, and start rummaging for wood, hide, and fiber to make a crutch. As I do, the door of the hut begins to try and open, before slowly it cracks, as Ozpin pokes his head through the door, and helps himself inside, the door closing behind him. Blake smiles "Found out how to open the door, eh?" she says, to which he turns to her. Upon seeing her awake, he quickly hops on over to her, then seems to sit next to her, and give a low hoot, as if it was out of relief. Blake smiles, reaching out with her left hand to pet the back of Ozpin's head. "Yeah, I'm alright old man." she says "Thanks, Oz." She's relieved to have Ozpin to help relieve some stress. I carry over some materials, and lie a long, sturdy branch alongside Blake...it's just the right length for a crutch, with a Y-shape at the top. The branch splits off into the air halfway up, the ideal location for where Blake would hold it for support. I snap off a part of this limb, and then round off the edge to make it safer, before wrapping the main trunk of the branch and this split-off with fiber, to both strengthen it, and make it easier to hold. Then I go up to the top of the branch, running another sturdy stick across that, before trying to tie that down with fiber. I'm having trouble holding the sticks in place, but then Ozpin stands, turns, and holds down the two branches for me in the ideal location, using his right foot. I smile at him, and start tying off one joint. When it's time to do the other, Ozpin helps out once again, holding the branch together. Then, I sew on some hide padding to make it easier under Blake's armpit. Blake the whole time is watching me on encouragingly, trying to recuperate the best she can while watching. Finally, I get the crutch done. I smile, standing with it, before putting some of my own weight on it, the best I can. "Well, you're bigger than me, so...just because it works for me it may not mean it works for you." I say.

"Only one way to find out." Blake says. I nod at her. "How do you want to do this?" I ask. Blake looks around. "Well, having my left side to the wall probably wasn't the best bet, for starters..." she says, thinking. "Well...just...give me the crutch for now, help me up from behind my back, alright?"

"I'll do my best." I say, handing Blake's free arm the crutch, before taking the sleeping bag out from behind her. "Alright...let's take this nice and easy." I say, and Blake nods. I get behind her, gently wrapping my arms around her, under her arms. "You're ok with me touching your right arm, right?" I ask. Blake looks at her bound arm. "It's...a little sore, hurts when you touch it."

"Alright...how about this?" I say, moving my right arm from around her waist to the base of her back, pressing against it for support. Blake nods "Better."

"Alright. When you're ready."

"Alright..." Blake says, moving her right leg into a position to help her stand upright. "On three."

"Sure. Take your time."

"One..." Blake says, adjusting herself, and her grip on the crutch. "Two...three."

Blake starts trying to push off, and I put as much muscle as I can into lifting her. I'm her main force of lift here, so I have to use as much as I can without accidentally hurting her. With newfound, gentle strength, I help Blake onto her feet in a single motion, and onto her new crutch, which supports her. Blake lifts her left leg a little off the ground, probably because of it's pain...she stands. I smile, slowly helping her away from the wall, and taking her left side, allowing me to put my arm around her as we slowly head towards the door. I slowly push the thatch door open and look out. Sure enough, Yang has Titania saddled up, and sits on her back on a saddle seat between her plates. She's been using Titania to gather from the bushes, each one of her mighty, yet delicate tail swings harvesting the berries and putting them into her inventory. Weiss stands nearby, taking the needed things from Titania's inventory, and dumping the unnecessary ones. I smile, bring my free left hand to my mouth, and whistle to get their attention. They turn instinctively towards me, and I look back into the shadow of the house, and step down. Blake slowly emerges, hesitant at first of getting over the lip of the foundation to the floor, just about a foot of a difference. Yang and Weiss's eyes immediately widen upon seeing Blake awake, and rush towards her. Yang literally throws herself over a row of Titania's plates in a single leap as she lands on her feet and rushes towards Blake. Blake makes it down with my help easily, then asks me to let go of her, which I do...and she stands alright, still. She smiles, then defiantly limps over to Weiss and Yang, who stand about ten feet away now in...surprised, but pleased shock. I can tell by the looks on their faces that they just want to throw their arms around her...but they know they can't. Blake smiles, and holds out her left arm, and gives a "come on" gesture with her hand, allowing them to hug her anyway. Weiss is actually the one to do this, carefully hugging Blake around the back with her right arm. Yang looks at Blake, shakes her head, then actually rubs Blake's head between her ears...which Blake seems to enjoy a...and I think I hear her purr once from it. "Look at you." Yang says, tearing up, as she stops petting Blake. "You being all strong and all."

"Heh...defiant more like it." Blake says, looking up. "I'm...just ready to get back into the game. I'm not going to hold you guys back."

"You're not holding us back." Weiss says, smiling at Blake. "We're happy to take our time and make sure you heal up. We're not going to just...abandon you."

"H...heh." Blake says, breathing uneasy. "I...b...before this...If...something were to happen to you guys because of me somehow...I...I wouldn't be able to stand being near you."

"You've ran all your life, Blake." I say, smiling. "There's no need to run anymore. Especially from your friends. I said the same thing to Yang, I'll say it to you: We see through each other for the true worth, the true character, the true soul. Blake...please. Don't down yourself anymore. I...I also told Yang she can't do anything wrong because she's my sister...and I don't think you and Weiss can do anything wrong either because you're my best of friends!"

"Stupid island has changed us for the better." Weiss chimes in, looking at Blake. Blake smiles "Right...I'm...sorry. Heh..."

"It's alright." Yang says. "How are you feeling?"

"Strong." Blake says. "Very...very strong."

"Is that so?"

Blake...she looks at her right arm...then, pulls her arm from around Weiss, and then...tears off her sling, to our surprise...she flexes her hand...there's nothing wrong. Then...she flexes her whole arm, to our amazement. Her bare muscles are just like her: strong, and defiant of what's happened. We're all impressed. Blake looks down at her right leg, and begins to weakly flex her foot...and Yang shakes her head. "The sling was enough, and is wonderful, but please...keep the cast and the crutch."

"I plan on it." Blake says "I...i just think that needs to get changed and washed up, now that I think about it..."

"Looking at That?" Weiss says, looking down at Blake's discolored bandages. "How could they not be?"

"Heh. Ruby, I'll take care of Blake this time." Yang says. "You and Weiss take over out here."

"No funny business, you two." I jest. Yang smirks "Turned the tables on me there, sis." she says "Nice...and I don't plan on it. I...I just think I should be with Blake for now."

"That's fine." Weiss says, as she lets go of Blake, who stands firm. "You two head on inside. We need some more wood, anyway."

"Fair enough." Blake says, and the four of us split into our teams once again. Yang's first into the house, holding the door open for Blake and helping her inside. Weiss and I grab us some hatchets lying on the ground and begin to head towards the trees. Weiss stops a moment to re-adjust her shoe laces, and I continue to the nearest tree. I feel ready to start hacking away, so I bring my arm back, yet...why do I feel like I?...I look up into the tree...suddenly my eyes widen. "Oh...oh no." I say quickly, taking a very slow step back. Weiss is now right next to me, disturbed by my scared look "What?" she asks concerned. I'm wincing by now, and pointing up into the tree. Weiss turns to look at what I see...and her eyes also widen. "Oh...oh wow. WOW." she says, carefully stepping back once more with me. "That...that's a thing."

"Yeah, I know...glad I saw that before we started..."

"Yeah...that would have been bad."

We continue staring up into the tree a moment...then Weiss and I turn towards each other. "Are...you thinking what i'm thinking?" I ask.

"I think so." Weiss replies.

"Wanna...do that?"

"...Yeaaaahh..."

I slowly help Blake back onto her sleeping bag, which, surprisingly, is quite clean despite her bandages. I sigh "Alright, now I want your consent for this, first..." I ask. Blake tilts her head at me "consent for what?..." she asks. I sigh, pulling a few items out of my inventory. "Do you know what these are?" I ask, holding up a needle. Blake looks over them a moment. "Those...are empty blood packs. How'd you get them?"

"Well...when we ran back home there was another beacon atop the rock. Granted how that one often had things just right for the current events, I figured it was best to go and take a look. Sure enough, these were in here. And...granted...Can't really use them for their primary usage, so...Im hoping to use them to clean up certain areas of all that gunk."

"Oh." Blake says "Now...now I know what you meant."

"Yeah...do you want to be a little knocked out, first?"

"It...would help." Blake responds. "Whatever makes it easier."

"If that's the case." I say, taking out few Narcoberries. "These should be enough. Here."

I've got about fifteen in my hand, which I hand to Blake. She ingests them all slowly,eating every last one. I wait a few minutes. Soon enough, I can see the berries working. Blake yawns, before slowly getting groggier and groggier. Soon, her eyelids are obviously getting heavy for her as she struggles to stay propped on the sleeping bag and stay awake. I smile "Feeling drugged, yet?" I ask.

"What do you think?..." she replies low, and obviously very tired. I smile "Alright. Take it easy, I'll get this done."

"Kitty...go night-night..." Blake replies in a very tired, drugged voice, before slowly leaning back, as her head slowly rolls back, and she slowly closes her eyes. I give a low giggle with a smile seeing Blake so drugged out cold. Slowly, I take the bandages off of Blake's stomach. To my relief, the wound has healed greatly. It's almost nothing but a scar now...i don't think new bandages will be neccesary for it. I take out a wet cloth and begin to carefully clean the area. Sure enough...it's alright. I smile before turning to what really worries me...Blake's leg. I slowly begin to unravel the bandages...guh, I can smell it already...some of the bandages are sticking together due to being sealed together with blood and pus. I give a hard swallow, and take out a sharp piece of flint, cutting off the bits I can't unravel...guh..I...I don't...UGH! I...I'm no medical expert, but...I...really don't like what I see. Some of the wounds on her leg are fine from the shark bite, but some are black-crusted, with horrid scabs, some of which have considerable amounts of pus underneath...guh...Well, somebody's got to do it. I soldier on, gingerly cleaning Blake's wounds at first. Now it's time to drain that pus...taking a needle with a clear bag attached, I do what I can...i clean the wound at first...then slowly stick the needle in. Slowly, but surely, a thick, clotted mix of blood-and-pus begins to flow into the bag...ugh, seeing this really makes me want to throw up...but it's got to come out. Keeping the needle in it's place, I use my other hand to slowly squeeze the wound, getting more pus into the bag. Eventually I get all I can from this, and I take out the needle, wrap the needle In cloth, then put the contaminated bag on a tarp of hide we've been putting all the "biohazzard" stuff from caring for Blake: bloody rags and the like. I'll throw that out when Blake comes back to consciousness. I only want to use one single pack per pocket, to prevent infection...and luckily, I have just enough: four packets for four pus-filled pockets of...pure putred. I...I work even harder, cleaning her wounds even more...I won't stand for a single speck of black! It's becoming cleaner and cleaner, but...still...some things can't be fixed. I...I kneel over her torn leg, which now looks much better...but...I don't...I still don't like how it looks. I...i have my hands on her right leg, as I look at her wound...I...I bend my head down...I...I just...can't help but feel...responsible somehow. A tear falls from my face onto Blake's leg...and then suddenly I feel something...something going through me and into Blake...I look at her wound and...I-It's healing?! I quickly jerk my hands away in reflex, and the healing stops...the majority of the wounds on her leg nothing but healing scars now. W...what? W..what was that?! I quickly grab a hold of Blake's leg again, but...nothing happens. Blake slowly awakes again, seeing me clutching her leg. "Wha...what?" she asks. I quickly shake my head "I...Nothing. But..."

Blake looks down at herself...her stomach has healed, as to be expected...but she's in shock upon seeing her leg. Blake quickly looks up at me"Y...Yang...what happened?"

"I...I don't know!" I say. "I...I was just holding onto your leg, I felt bad about all this, like I was responsible, then it started healing and then-"

"So...So you did it."

"I...I don't know! I think I did?"

"It was probably your Aura, Yang..." Blake says, slowly regaining consciousness again from getting drugged out. "Damn, my head..." Blake says, rubbing the back of her head. "You ok?" I ask. Blake nods "Yeah, fine...but...regardless...thank you, Yang."

"Heh...Y...you're welcome."

"Also...Yang...you're not responsible, and you shouldn't really feel responsible for it. Also...I...I've been thinking a little..."

"Yeah?..."

"I...I'm sorry I...I-I don't know what I feel about you."

W...what? Did...she really just...I...I don't know what to think...I'm...I'm shocked. "B...Blake?..." I ask, tearing up. Does...does she suddenly just think of me differently from all this?! Blake smiles, holding my left arm, and sitting up. "Hey, relax." she says. "It's not like that...It's just something more on my end. I...I think I...just don't know a thing about relationships."

"W...what do you mean?"

"Well...I...I don't give out trust too easily, for obvious reasons...and...well...as I said...I never thought i'd have the friends I do in you...I...I don't...I don't think I...truly have any social skills." She says, rubbing her forehead. "I...I just think in part I...don't know exactly how to judge friends. I mean, I hold you, Weiss, and Ruby in very close and very high regard, but...Still...I...I think i'm just at a loss when it comes to interpreting friendliness...trust...love...and..." she sniffs. "I...I need to be the one crying here. Not you. I...I'm so sorry I doubted you at the Vytal Festival...I'm...I'm terrible."

"No you're not!" I say. "You're not terrible. You're like me. Complicated. Heck, each one of us is complicated to some sort of degree, but...you...you've had your trust broken too much. Reactions and behavior such as yours is to be expected of somebody so weary..."

"Heh...thank you."

"Ruby said it to you...I'll say it to you. I don't think there's anything you CAN do wrong...I'd forgive you for anything you'd do to me, Blake. Also...Y...you're...not hurting me by saying any of this, I understand...I...I'm just so much of a flirt I...I think i'm confusing myself. It's just confusion on both ends...and I'm going to make this point clear." I carefully hug Blake "I...don't care if you don't...Love me the way I first thought. I know how you've viewed...and still view me...that feeling is definitely mutual: something brought on by trying to by being teammates...a sisterly bond, a sisterly love that's beyond even just being basic comrades. That's the kind of friendship you need, Blake, and I will always view you as that. Ruby and Weiss too...ARK's woken us up for the better. You're more than a friend to me...not..not as a sister by blood, but a sister by spirit. That's what you need, and...I don't care if you don't care for me on a higher level than that. That is what I need: what you already are. Blake, I love you so much...you're one of my closest friends, please understand that..."

Blake's been stunned silent at first, but then slowly, genuinely returns my embrace. She's also crying "T...thank you." She says. "T...thank you...so much..."

"Heh, ya know what, Blake?" I say.

"What's that?"

I pat her back lightly. "You better live up to what you promised Ruby. You don't get loved on enough because you're not social enough."

"Hah...probably...and I plan on having one with her soon enough. Trust me...I'm doing more than just evolving and adapting to the Island...but to you all as well."

"Same for us, Blake." I say, and we release our embraces on each other. Blake smiles, and starts moving not just her left leg, but right leg as well, to try and stand. I quickly put my arm around her and start helping her onto her feet. She still uses her crutch to help her stand...and it works...but this time...Blake puts weight on her right leg...she's able to put weight on it lightly, but still has to use her crutch. She slowly lifts her leg up and bends it...it's responding easily...after all, she used it to stand up. I'm smiling at Blake very warmly, to which Blake returns to me. Blake sighs "Ruby...she's right. I need to start talking more. I really do...glad I...have a chance to while we're here."

I give a nod towards Blake, and then we notice...the...smell of smoke? We quickly head outside, me leading the way, and look around...sure enough, there's a new firepit at the base of a tree...with Weiss and Ruby standing a distance away...standing directly behind Quru? We walk on over, and Weiss turns to see Blake...without bandages. "Y...You're feeling that well?" she asks Blake, and Ruby turns, also to see Blake's healing. Blake nods "We...We think while Yang was cleaning my wounds she might have somehow...used her aura to help heal me...I feel fine now, for the most part."

"That's wonderful!" Ruby says smiling. I tilt my head "So...what are you two up to?..." I ask, looking at this setup. Ruby points to the tree with the firepit at it's base. "Look up into the smoke. Then maybe you'll see."

Blake and I look into the tree...sure enough, there, in the branches...a pretty big beehive. I scoff in shock "Dang...and we never noticed that?"

"Now I see what you're doing." Blake says "Smoking them out. I guess your sweet tooth is getting to you, huh, Ruby?"

Ruby gives a big smile and rubs the back of her head. "Yup! I was thinking, along with the fish and stuff...Honey could really help widen our food options."

"Also explains why you're using Quru as a meatshield." I snicker, remembering how Quru eats insects. By now we notice...a few bees coming out of the hive...and they're behaving strangely...sure enough...they crawl along the outside of the hive at first, before falling down, and either into the fire or onto the ground below. "Uhhh..." Weiss says in strange shock "I...is it just me or are they committing mass-suicide because of the smoke?"

"It...looks like it..." Ruby says, noting the amount of bees that have started to emerge from the hive, only to quickly let go and fall to their death...I...I remember hearing that bees become tranquilized when subjected to smoke...but these ones seem to be dying. Weird...just then, there's a grunt of some kind, and something pushes gently on Blake's back. We turn, and sure enough, it's White Fang, who's very concerned for his owner, rubbing up against Blake affectionately. Blake smiles, petting his head "Hey. I'm alright. Don't worry" she says, but he continues acting worried...and even puts his head between her legs, trying to get her onto his back. We laugh at this "Alright, alright..." Blake says "You don't want me walking around. Hold still." She takes a moment to slowly ease herself onto White Fang's saddle, and puts her crutch onto her back. I smile "See? Even White's worried about you. We're not going to hold you down and beat you up."

"Heh...yet that's what you did in the dream I had. You...all basically killed me because I tried to fight my wounds..."

I stare at Blake and blink a few times, then shake my head "no, no! Never! I mean, that was just stress." I quickly say "Stress and panic, fear and paranoia. We'd never do that!"

"Well, see-"

"Don't. Even. Tell Us. Your Dream." Weiss says, holding up her hand. "We don't care what we did in some sort of nightmare. Know it was just that: a nightmare, and that none of us would ever do that. Heck, back when we first learned about you being in the White Fang...I mean, yes, I was furious at you, and I was all 'when I get my hands on you!'-like...I...If I could have gotten my hands on you...I...would never have done anything like that to you...I probably would have given you just a good shaking at the least, probably. Even the moment I learned you were ex-White Fang...I felt...something about you. A strange innocence. Blake, friends aren't enemies, so you need to stop viewing us like we are."

"I...well...I'm not going to say I never have, it's just...maybe I'm a coward." Blake says.

"A coward? You?" I ask in disbelief, and Blake sighs.

"A coward, like how I told you, Yang. If I hurt any of you in any way, shape, or form, due to something caused by me, or...I never would have forgiven myself. I wouldn't be able to stand being near you, and I'd do what I've always done: run away. Granted, if I ran away here on ARK...that would probably mean my certain death. And i'm not saying that means i'm trapped here with you...I...I just know I need to stop running, so I wont. I...I'm really just bad at having friends...glad you're all the way you are with me."

"It's nothing." Weiss says "I mean, yeah, At first glance, what you said during Vytal was a little...harsh, but, when I had time to think about it...it makes sense. No offense."

"Non taken, I know exactly what you mean."

Suddenly, Ruby's eyes widen, and her pupils shrink. We all turn to her as she stares off into oblivion. "Sis?" I ask. "Sis?...what is it?"

"V..Vy...Vytal..." she says "The...The Vytal festival..."

"What about it?" Blake asks.

"T..V..It...We.." Ruby stammers, before suddenly, she has her face in her hands and screams loudly in immense pain. This immediately shocks and terrifies us...especially when we see the blood coming from her ears, as well as her nose. We rush to her, Blake dashing right next to her on White Fang, who refuses to let Blake leave his back, but understands the urgency of the situation. Ruby's shaking, face still in her hands in pain. "RUBY! RUBY!" I plead "SIS! C'MON! WHAT'S WRONG?!"

"SNAP OUT OF IT!" Weiss says, shaking her. "RUBY! GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!"

We all plead at Ruby again and again in panic, drawing the attention of our pets, who draw near...even the nocturnal Sans and Nightshade. Suddenly, Ruby stops shaking...and her bleeding stops...I'm terrified...but slowly, Ruby raises her head again, and removes her hands from her face. She's greatly distraught. "Ruby!" I say "Are...you ok?!"

"I...I'm ok...i hear you fine..." She says, shaking a little in fear. "I...We...The Vytal Festival..."

"Yes? What about it?!" Blake demands. Ruby keeps shaking "W...We...We never even went to bed that day."

They're all staring at me now, wide-eyed and in shock. "W...what do you mean?" Weiss asks. I shudder "I...We never went to bed or saw the end of that day. I mean...I remember after the thing with Mercury. Yang, you were still in the room, Weiss, you and Blake left for coffee and tea, and...I went off by myself...We still had the other match ups later to attend to and stuff, but..." I feel the pain slowly coming on again, and I shake my head, tears in my eyes. "All I remember is heading towards the docks to board a ship to the arena...but...I...I can't remember anything else. It...It's like something doesn't want me to remember."

"T...that explains it." Blake says, wide-eyed. "Th...the fit you had just now...was something built-in to keep you from remembering."

"The more you try to remember..." Yang says "The...more it hurts you to keep from remembering."

"Hey...It's alright though." Weiss says, carefully putting an arm around my back. "It doesn't matter or not. Sure enough, whatever happened...might be something better left unknown or forgotten, no matter how mysterious or...terrifying it might have been." she's trying to support me. "Sure, it's a scary thought, but...don't let it hold you back. We already know: we can't go back home. It's not exactly the best thing to keep worrying about it."

"I...I guess." I say, lightly hugging her. "But...still...A.L.'s note said something about 'human specimen containment', remember?"

We're all quiet after I say this. "So...the question is..." I stutter, but Yang finishes my sentence.

"Who else is in containment...and hasn't been released, yet?"

"And...what happened to Remnant." I say low, trying my damnedest not to cause another attack.

Sure enough, things slowly calm down as Sans and Nightshade go back to sleep, and the other pets begin to calm down. A cloth is all I need to recover from my attack, wiping away the blood from my face...I'm feeling fine now, so long as I don't try to recall past events. Turning to the beehive, we see a ton of dead bees on the ground and in the fire...but no more from the hive. Yang mounts Titania once again, and heads over to the beehive. As soon as she's under it, she stands up, trying to use Titania's back as a raised platform...she can only barely touch the bottom. If Blake wasn't wounded, she probably would have just climbed up there herself...wait...I'm the next right under her in agility...maybe I could?...I walk over to the base of the tree, and leap up to a branch, swinging myself onto it. I climb up a little higher, then out onto the limb where the beehive is. I lie down on the branch, bear-hugging it with my legs, and I take out a hatchet and carefully begin to see if I can't cut the large hive off...soon, our efforts are rewarded, as the hive loosens, then falls into Yang's grasp. It's pretty large – at least a foot and a half in diameter. Yang slides down Titania's back while I flip off the branch onto the ground below. Yang sets the beehive on the ground, then takes out a hatchet of her own and hits it once on the top. This causes a large crack to open down one side. Yang puts her stone hatchet aside, then pries open the hive...there's copious amounts of sweet, golden honey within. Yang looks up at Weiss and I "You two were the ones who had the idea. You first." she says smiling. Weiss smiles, then bows to me politely "You were the one who saw it first" she says happily "Go on ahead." I smile, telling her thank you, then bend down and reach into the beehive with my right hand, taking out a nice piece of honeycomb. It's sticky and gooey in my hands, but I'm fine with that! I sink my teeth into the honeycomb, and I get nothing but a taste of sweet, smooth honey. I smile, making an audible "Mmmm!" in delight, then plop back onto my rear, crossing my legs, then holding the honeycomb with both hands as I eat. They smile and laugh at me, as Weiss, then Yang takes a piece for her own. Blake tries to dismount White Fang to get a piece of her own, but he still won't let her. He looks over, sniffs the honeycombs on the inside, then grabs a large one with his mouth, and tears it off, before backing up, and looking back at Blake. Blake smiles "Thank you." she says, bending down and taking the piece from his mouth...or so she thinks. Just as she grabs it, White Fang yanks his mouth the other way, severing the large honeycomb in half...and proceeding to eat his own piece. Now that makes sense...we laugh at this and eat a few more pieces of golden honey. I don't care if my hands get sticky, this stuff just tastes soo good, and it's soo good for me, too! Licking my fingers clean of honey, I check my engrams...hm. No exact form of honeypot...i mean, there's a pitcher...but, no, nothing. I pause for a moment, before remembering the bowels we use to store narcotics and stuff. It shouldn't be hard to make a larger one of those, and make a lid for it. Sure enough, we quickly get that out of the way, and store the honey inside, then into the preserving bin...dang, with all the food in there, we'll be eating for a while. After heading back out, it's more work. Yang takes the tarp full of contaminated materials from when we were healing Blake, and throws it on the fire from earlier to burn. Better than just dumping it somewhere. Then we go back to felling more trees. Titania isn't the best lumberjack, smashing the trees apart with her tail, rather than cutting them easily. Yet, we manage. Using Titania, she smashes the tree in half using her tail, then, while the rest of us cut the downed tree, Yang uses Titania to uproot the stump, for more wood. We fell around 20 more trees before something catches my eye. "Hey, wait a sec." I say, just as Yang and Titania ready themselves to fell the tree. "What's up, sis?" Yang asks, turning to me. I point up into the tree "Right there" I say low "There's a little nest". Sure enough, there's a small nest within the tree. "Now that's something I can reach." Yang says, standing on the back of Titania once again, and carefully picking the nest up and out of the tree. She slowly slides back down Titania's back again, stepping off from Titania's neck. We gather around her, and sure enough: within the nest- which is almost as wide as the beehive – there are four little eggs. I find this simply adorable, and Blake looks into the nest a little closer "doesn't look like anything's been in the nest a while..." she notes "Maybe mom went out one time and...never came back."

"Aww...poor little things!" I say "Are they ok?..."

Yang carefully holds one egg in her hands. "It's...still warm." she says "So...it's still alive."

"They won't live without someone to take care of 'em, though!" I say "There's one for each of us. Why don't we look after them?"

Weiss smiles "C'mon now, Ruby. We can't take in every little stray animal on the island."

"Why not?! And what if you were all alone with no parents, and somebody had the opportunity to potentially save your life, but did nothing? Huh?"

"Why'd ya have to go and pull that card?" Weiss says "But... I see your point."

"Yeah, you'd better!" I say. "So? We can't just leave 'em!"

"I guess it's settled, then!" Yang says, carefully putting her egg in her inventory. "As long as it stays there, it should be safe, right?"

"Probably." Blake says, taking an egg, as Weiss and I do, and we safely tuck our eggs away. I turn to the others "Say hey. I think we've got enough materials. Why don't we store 'em all away, and then go off to the Red Obelisk?"

"Oh right!" Yang says "Our little gift from our friend of the past. Still got that note?"

"Yep! Had it in my inventory ever since!" I say smiling.

"Well, I guess that's where we're going, then!" Yang says "Let's get ready to move, girls!"

Taking the wood we've gathered and storing it inside, we then head back outside and get on our respective mounts. Weiss and Yang have now finally applied their levels to Pachi, Titania, and themselves. We're going through our final checks when we Sans growling about something for a moment. Curious, we slowly ride forwards on our mounts to see what it is...Sans and Nightshade have company...the Baryonyx from earlier! She's a good distance away from our night watchmen, and seems hesitant to move any closer because of them. She's not aggressive, but she seems...skiddish, for some reason. We also note...she's grown in levels. Probably from acting in the wild, as well as the earlier events, she's now level 32. She looks up, seeing us, and more specifically, Blake. Her demeanor seems to change, as if pleased to see Blake's alright. I smile "Is it just me, or...Did she come all the way up here just to check on you?" I ask Blake. Blake's smiling as well. "It's possible...let's see." She rides closer on White Fang, and the Baryonyx doesn't move. Blake's now right in front of it, as it looks down at her, before giving Blake's outstretched right hand a slow, light lick, and allowing Blake to pet her snout. Blake smiles "Not exactly tamed," Blake says "But very friendly."

"So it seems!" Yang says as we ride closer. "Should we give her a name, though?"

"For recognition? Sure...I like Bari."

"Sounds cute!" I say. Bari herself doesn't seem to mind at all, but simply seems to be happy among friends. We continue down the hill and towards the river...being escorted by Bari in the process. Like Blake said, she's not tamed...but she's definitely quite fond of us. We head across the river, then across some sand dunes on the other side of the river, before turning right, towards the channel. Upon our mounts, we slowly approach the water's edge. We're at the mouth of the channel, the red obelisk looming ahead. Weiss brushes her legs a moment, atop Pachi. "So...why do we cross here instead of further in the channel, where it's a little more...uh...narrow?"

"One word: Megapiranha" I say, and Ember seems to shift a moment, turning so we face the rest of the team, and I face Blake "Ey, Blake. Isn't there such a thing as 'Brackish' water?"

"Yes." She states. "It's what this kind of water here is: a mix of fresh and salt water. Being freshwater animals, Megapiranha shouldn't be able to tolerate the mix, and would stay further up river."

"What about Megalodon?..." Weiss asks. Blake huffs "Megalodons are related to Great Whites, which would die in fresh water like Megapiranha would in salt water. Thus and therefore, that leaves only one known danger."

"Squalicorax." I say. "The Bull Sharks."

"Yes. Bull Sharks can adjust the saline levels in their own bodies, allowing them to traverse from fresh to salt water. That's how we ran into my assailants earlier."

"Right...so how do we get across?" Yang asks. Blake thinks a moment, then looks down. "White here is pretty fast. We can use him as a one-man ferry across, doing that until each one of us is on the other side of the channel."

"If that's what we've gotta do." Weiss says, dismounting Pachi. Yang slides down off of Titania again as I dismount Ember. I turn back towards Blake, and she moves forwards on White Fang, as if to head into the water...but then, I see something her body was blocking from my view, further down on the beach. "Hey..." I say, pointing down the beach "What's that?" They turn the direction I'm pointing. There's a strange...greenish-grey, black...lump of stuff down the beach. "Rocks?" Yang asks "Weird rocks?"

"I...think maybe we should check it out." I suggest. Slowly, and carefully, we approach the rock, our pets right behind us...it quickly becomes clear this is no rock. Rather, a large reptile, 40 ft long, with a narrow snout...a giant crocodile. The minute we realize this we step back quickly...but it doesn't move. The entire animal just lies there, as if...dead...It's covered in a strange, black liquid on it's top half. Drawing weapons, we slowly approach the animal while our pets stand ready a distance away. "W...What is it?" I ask.

"What do you think it is?!" Yang says sarcastically "It's a giant crocodile!"

"Yes and no." Blake replies. "From the shape of it's snout, size...and what I can see by the shortened name...It's a Sarcosuchus. They're...close cousins of crocodiles, a distant relative to White...they're... 'Not-a-Croc's, if that makes any sense."

"Sort of..." I say. "What's it covered in?..."

Weiss is approaching the head of the Sarco. It's eyes stare off into oblivion in front of it with a cold, dead stare... Weiss slowly reaches out with her right hand, and her fingers lightly touch the top of it's head. Immediately feeling the sticky, vicious texture of the fluid, she quickly raises her hand, as the goop sticks between the creature's back and her fingers, slowly dripping off. "Ugh...It's oil." She says, shaking her hand. "The entire thing is covered in oil."

"That's...sad, actually." I say, looking at the motionless creature. Yang looks at the Sarco for a moment, before turning to Blake...who's standing on her own two feet. "You're...ok?" She asks. Blake nods "Fine for now...I think I'll keep the crutch for now...when things get...easier...I'll use it. If that makes any sense. You know...when there's not a possibility I need to move quickly."

"So long as you're not stressing yourself and hurting yourself more." Yang says. Weiss and I are looking at the head of the crocodile...and it's dead stare of it's yellow eyes...suddenly, the eye rapidly locks onto Weiss and I and the crocodile hisses. All four of us quickly back up, but...I stop in the middle of my retreat. That...wasn't a hiss of anger or predation...but sounded like one of fear. I stare at the Sarco, who's eye stares back at me. I look over the level 54 male crocodilian, and lock eyes with him again. "...He's so weak." I say "It's...like he's just waiting there to die."

"When oil sinks into the skin, especially crude oil, it can poison the bloodstream..." Weiss says. Blake turns to Weiss, with a strange look of anger in her eyes. "How'd you know that?" She interrogates. Weiss...she doesn't reply, shocked by the look of anger in Blake's face. Yang and I are also looking at Blake by now...suddenly realizing she's behaving like her old self, Blake suddenly blinks a few times in realization, before closing her eyes and shaking her head violently, and lightly slapping the sides of her face a few times. "Forget that." she says quickly "My friend wouldn't know anything about that. You wouldn't do anything like that. No, You're not to blame on anything..."

"Blake. It's alright..." Weiss says, reaching out towards her with her left hand, a smile on her face. "I know...it's a touchy subject for you."

"Thank you, but...I really, really need to stop associating you with that..."

"It's fine." Weiss says, and the two smile at each other once again. I turn towards the Sarco "...Just because we had a bad time earlier today doesn't mean everything else gets to have a bad time, too. Can we help it?"

"Didn't I say-" Weiss starts saying, but I cut her off "Didn't I say that I really don't care?! It's DYING, Weiss. We have a chance to save it. Why not?"

"God, why are you so nice?..." Weiss says sarcastically, but with a smile, showing that she's supportive of me, and willing to help. They get closer to the crocodile with me, which I manage to feed two narcotics to, to keep it calm. We all look over the Sarco...wanting to help it, but not knowing how.

"So...How DO you save a giant, oil-covered crocodile?" Yang asks. I look up at her "Get the oil off?" I ask.

"How, though?"

"I...think I might know." Weiss says. We turn to her "How?" I ask. Weiss is hesitant to speak...and we know why: because of how she's gotten her idea. We turn towards Blake...she looks at us a moment, then gives a sympathetic smile, raising her hands, as if to cover her ears...but instead of that...she moves them to the top of her head and presses down her kitty ears, which causes us to laugh. The lightheartedness of the situation is exactly what we needed, getting us into a lighter mood. "That's exactly what I meant!" Weiss says "Just as weird and spontaneous as Yang!"

"Deal with it." Blake says with a smile, uncovering her ears, before fist-pounding Yang. "Anyway, as you were saying?"

"Well...on the rare occasion I'd hear complaints from the workers, some of them would complain about how oil or the like would suck up into their clothing. I've got spare hide on me...why don't we see if we can use the hide to soak up the oil?"

Suddenly, Blake snaps her fingers. "Genius, actually..." she says "If we use the hide to absorb the oil, we can keep the oil for ourselves, and if you refine oil in a fire, what do you get?"

"Gasoline!" I reply with a smile. Blake quickly nods "Law of the ARK seems to be: 'If you can survive, basically anything you want is yours'. If we ever get to the point where we could make machined items, that's exactly what we need!"

"Or, until then, we've got more fuel for our cute little lantern." Yang says, to whom Blake motions to with both arms somewhat humorously "There ya go. Or that." Blake says, and we all laugh. Yang smiles "Alright, sis. You're our little dino-animal whisperer, think you can keep the big boy calm?"

"Of course." I say smiling.

"Alright then." Yang replies "Can I borrow Ember again, then? I can run back to the house and fetch more hide, in case the amount Weiss has isn't enough."

"Sure. Go on ahead."

Yang borrows Ember, hopping atop my raptor, before bolting back home. Weiss and Blake start using the hide from Weiss's inventory, laying them in strands atop the Sarco's back, and pressing down lightly, as they soak up the oil from the Sarco's skin, while also getting their own hands covered on oil. They take times to constantly wash off their own hands as they work. As for me? Doing my job as the "animal-whisperer", keeping the Sarcosuchus calm and sedated, as well as fed. Knowing how meat seems to heal carnivores when they eat it, I figure he should be healing as he heats the pieces of meat I feed him. Yang's back in just over five minutes with more hide AND some more meat. Yang starts helping out Weiss and Blake while I continue to try and keep the Sarcosuchus calm. Seeing oil on the top of it's head, I take a piece of hide and carefully clean the top of it's head, keeping any oil from getting into it's eyes. Once cleaned, the top of the Sarco's head has this black pattern on it, permanently left due to the oil. As much as a scar as it is...it's strangely beautiful. The pattern forms a black, beautiful, flame-like design on the top of it's head. After around an hour of work...the Sarco's cleaned. As with the head, the rest of the creature's top is covered in a brilliant, black, flame-like pattern, which stands in great, beautiful contrast to it's natural dark green scales. We've stepped back now, admiring the work. "Well...I think we did a good thing." I say to the others, who agree with me. "Human, Faunus, or animal...nothing deserves to suffer into death." Blake says, to which we agree. Yang turns to the Sarco, who's still out from the narcotics we've given it. "He should wake up soon. We better get moving in case he wants to return the favor by snacking on us." she says, and we begin to back away, towards our mounts. Bari's been here the whole time, fishing in the shallow surf nearby, and keeping a watchful eye on us, her new friends. Seeing us walking away from the Sarco, she walks over towards us, wanting to stick around with us for a bit. We're halfway to our tames before there's another sound...a deep, familiar sound. Looking up the beach where we came...we see a familiar shape...the Megaraptor from earlier. It's in a slight limp, walking towards us, unaware of our presence. It has it's head bent, and pauses a moment, just beyond the sand dune it's emerged from behind. It bends it's head down and holds the left side of it's face with it's left hand...granted from the look of the eye, it must be loosing sight. After taking several large huffs, it looks up...and sees us. It seems to growl or grit it's teeth for a moment, but upon seeing our pets – especially Titania – it steps back. The way it's acting is like it's trying to say "You scare me, but just wait. I'm going to tear you apart one day". I don't even think I can take the damn thing seriously. None of us do, if I think. "C'mon, big boy!" Yang says angry, clapping her hands above her head a few times. "C'mon! You wanna get more?! HUH!?"

"SCREW OFF!" Blake roars. "Unless you're in for more!"

The Megaraptor is getting more and more agitated, flaring it's quills and feathers on end as it slowly backs up...just then, there is a VERY loud roar. At first, I think it's Sans, but there's no way he could be all the way over here...then there are multiple rapid footsteps of something... Bigger than the Megaraptor. The Megaraptor flinches for a moment, and then looks behind it, before shrieking in fear and running for it's life. A massive form suddenly rises up, jaws open, and clamps down on where the Megaraptor once stood...It's bigger than the Megaraptor by far...Yet once again, it's got a long, Crocodile-like snout...but a massive sail, and four legs. Even I know this one...Spinosaurus. I feel like A.L lied to me...there's not supposed to be anything big here...but...knowing how Spinosaurus is often hypothesized to be Aquatic...remembering this and seeing it's webbed feet says all: It's in it's natural habitat. It spots us, and roars loudly...before noting who it's closer to...the Sarco. It roars, and lunges at the Sarco; but in a lightning-fast reflex, I've pulled out my bow and sent an arrow flying right into it's snout. It steps back quickly and shakes it's head, before turning to us and roaring, and charging at us quickly. Each one of us starts shooting at the Spinosaurus, before Ember and White Fang charge in. They're agile enough to avoid the creature's biting and stomping attacks, before Titania gets an opportunity to attack, sending her tail spikes flying into it's head. The Spinosaurus shrieks at the top of it's lungs, stepping back, before lunging forwards at Titania, flipping her over onto her side and biting down on her neck. Yang screams loudly in anger and does a flying juggernaut charge at the Spino's head with, finally of all things, her new Sword drawn. THAT will pack more of a punch than our spears. She wields it in a vicious stabbing position, and she sends it straight through the spinosaur's snout with the force of her charge. It lets go of Titania and roars, lifting it's head, as Yang holds on to her sword for the ride. White Fang and Ember leap up onto different sides of the Spinosaurus, latching hold and biting and slashing with fury. Pachi tries do do something, but he's just too small...but Bari isn't. She charges in, going for the Spinosaur's neck. She latches hold with her jaws, and using the force of the impact to send her enlarged claws deep into it's neck. The spinosaur flails wildly still, and Yang flips up onto the top of the Spinosaur's head, and begins slashing profusely and furiously at the back of it's neck with her vicious sword. THIS is what hurts it the most. The Spinosaurus flails wildly from being attacked from all directions...before taking another one of Titania's powered tail-strikes to the face, like what she gave the Megaraptor. The Spinosaurus lurches to the side, before finally bucking off all it's physical attackers in one go. Yang rips her sword free from the Spinosaurus as she's thrown off, landing firmly with White and Ember, closer to us. Bari stands ready for more alongside us, against this level 12 oppressor. The Spinosaurus backs up a bit, head bent low, roaring at us, as if readying it's next move. It's at this moment I note...it's literally right next to the unconscious Sarcosuchus, who doesn't move. With the Sarco on it's right, the Spinosaurus roars again and again, angrily at us, ignoring it. I'm terrified at any second it'll notice the unconscious Sarco and go for easier prey. With an arrow already in the string of her bow, Weiss fires a warning shot at the Spinosaurus. The arrow hits it's left shoulder, and it reacts, flinching and looking the direction of the impact...and in that second...the Sarco springs to vibrant, violent life, giving a loud, roaring hiss as it suddenly latches on to the Spinosaur's front right leg. The sudden and violent action of the Sarcosuchus startles us all, and me to the point I actually scream in shock. The Spinosaurus can't even react as the Sarco grabs it's leg and starts violently and quickly rolling on the ground. The spinosaurus roars and turns around in pain and begins biting at the Sarco to no avail. The Spino turns so we can't see the Sarco's body, only the rolling tip of his tail. Suddenly, the Spinosaurus roars loudly in immense pain and jerks free, and there's the sound of a loud snap. The spinosaurus whirls a complete 180 degrees...it's got a full forth of it's right leg missing, and it dashes away as quickly as it can, not even bothering to look back. The Sarcosuchus holds the Spinosaurus's leg in it's mouth, before tossing it aside. The Sarco turns towards us and approaches...casually, it's body swaying left and right as it walks with it's body raised off the surface of the ground...the way it's acting...could we have?...Yes! We did! By showing it the kindness we did, we tamed it! The four of us cheer in joy as I run up to the crocodile's snout and hug it. It seems to mumble in affection of this, before it's being pet and loved on by all four of us. I look up at Weiss "So, Weiss? Still thinking we don't need to be nice to everything that's suffering?"

"Not at all!" She says smiling ear-to-ear. "I guess I really do need to learn to be nicer!"

Yang smiles, rubbing the glossy back of the Sarco. "Well then, since you say that...you do the honors of naming!" she says. Weiss pauses a moment. "Me? Name him?" she asks. We all nod "Yeah!" I reply "Why not? Go on, you can probably think of something!" Weiss bends down to get near eye-level with the giant crocodile, and the two look into each others eyes a moment. "...How about Gustave?" Weiss finally asks, rising. The rest of us smile, or nod our heads. "Gustave..." I say smiling "Sounds like a name for him!"

"Hey." Blake says. "He's a crocodile. The three of you should be able to ride him across fine." I look at Gustave a moment, before moving down his back, just past his shoulders, and sling myself on top of him, sitting on top, knees bent, sitting on my legs. I grab a hold of the the small rows of bumps down his back, and...sure enough, I feel like he could carry us. "It's likely." I say "With his size and all...I guess it doesn't hurt in trying. Just take it easy on him." Weiss gets on next behind me, before finally Yang does. As planned, we leave Pachi, Titania, and Ember here for safety. Blake, now atop White Fang again, rides towards the water a bit, before whistling at Gustave. To our complete shock, Gustave rises with complete ease despite the three of us on him. He turns towards Blake and White Fang, following them. Blake and White are the first into the waters of the Channel. Not surprisingly, Bari follows us, swimming into the water to travel with us. Finally Gustave enters the water, with us on his back. The second he's able to start swimming, there's a surprising and drastic difference in speed, as Gustave blitzes from being the last in line to first. Yang and I cheer while riding on the back of Gustave as he swims so fast. At first, Weiss is a little shocked, but she's just as happy as Yang and I soon enough. Gustave literally starts swimming circles around Blake, White Fang, and Bari. "Yo Slowpokes!" Yang says, waving at Blake. "Get'cha some!"

"Oh you!" I say, looking back at Yang and laughing. Blake shakes her head with a smile, as Weiss leans to the left a little, resting her left hand on Gustave's side a bit, while looking towards Gustave's head. "C'mon now, big fella." Weiss says with a smile "No need to show off, now. Be nice to the others and don't leave them in your wake." Gustave seems to acknowledge this, no longer swimming circles around the others, but rather swimming alongside them. We continue on, across the bay, towards the Red Obelisk; as well as whatever our gift from the past may be. Perhaps we'll learn more about that fabled Champion of the ARK, and our ally, A.L...


	11. Survivor Note 1

Day I

This is more cruel of a reality then I could have imagined. Knowing what I do of my past life, and that all I have once known and loved is... nonexistent. I don't know where I am on this strange place anymore. I awoke on the cold shores of a tundra, soon faced with the snarling teeth of giant wolves. These weren't Beowolves, but... were just as terrifying. I barely managed to escape them, before making the foolish choice to run _deeper_ into the frozen forest...I wish I hadn't, but at least I know now what I do because of it. My family...my friends...they wouldn't want me to just give up and die. I...I can't, for my sake...in their name. Wherever this place is, whatever it is...I must survive. I have reason to believe, from evidence in the tundra's forests, that I'm not alone...I have hostile company, somewhere on the island...although, I seem to get that everywhere. I can't believe how alert I am. This is nowhere to the degree of what I would expect my training to cover...yet I must use what I know and grow to the situation. I'm constantly checking over my shoulder. Even the slightest noise, in the most peaceful of situations, it makes me want to run for my life...but I must survive. Soon will come the time for hunting...and finally fending for myself. I have made clothes for myself finally. I have a hatchet, a pickax, and spears: all made of wood, stone, and flint. I'm tired and hungry. Thirst hasn't been much of an issue yet for me. It's just now sundown, as I write this note upon warmer, sandy beaches along a greener part of the island. I can still see the shores of the Tundra...I don't want to go back there soon. Not yet, anyway... I'll put that behind me for now. I need to make a fire and shelter soon...I best get started while I have light.

Day IV

I feel like I've been doing nothing but running for four days. I haven't slept at all since I first awoke. I just now felt calm enough to finally sit down and write another note. Yet still, I'm constantly looking around me. I thought I was easily startled before... If I was, I wonder what I am now. I built a fire and small lean-to of thatch on the beach, away from the tide. I was awoken by the sound of something bumping into the pile of logs I had laid out on the sand...that saved my life, as I soon found a giant crocodile trashing my small home. I've been on the move ever since, no sleep, to my severe detriment. My eyes are sore, and exhausted. The circles under my eyes are dark, and truly, I look pitiful every time I see my reflection. At least I'm eating. I was glad I took a moment to watch the local herbivorous wildlife eat from the vegetation. From them and this...device on my arm, I know now what's safe to eat and what isn't. Yet still, despite being plenty well fed and hydrated... I just can't help but feel, and look, malnourished. It's the lack of sleep, the lack of rest. I've tried many times over these past four days to sleep. I tried sleeping in the roots under a mangrove tree, but I was soon swarmed by massive ants. I tried sleeping in the tree of a riverbirch, only to come face to face with a giant snake. I tried sleeping on a tall rock that I had to climb to get to the top of, near the sea...some sort of pterosaur with a razor-sharp head crest attacked me viciously. Raptors have also woken me up. I've seen three different kinds: large ones that seem most common: they woke me up as I tried sleeping under the shade of trees. Then there was a smaller, nocturnal species with a strange bite and incredible intelligence. They chased me up into a tree, and tried all night to either get me down or get up to me. Then there was a third, midway in size between the two...and the smartest of them all. Those things were legitimate problem solvers, actually opening the wooden door to my home at the time, which was made out of a small cave entrance I had blocked-off with a wooden wall and door...stupid of me to do so. I had trapped myself between them and a cave full of who-knows what starting to claw apart the wooden wall blocking them off further back, and they knew it...only when the back wall was breached did it cause enough of a commotion for me to be able to escape and seal them all inside...i came back later to find they had broken down the door and escaped with their lives...They're so clever and persistent they still hunt me, as if not out of hunger...but spite, and sport...liking the challenge of prey so apparently easy and harmless, yet being able to put up such a fight...I've been living a non-stop nomad's life ever since, using the "stimberries" and Stimulant to keep myself awake as much as I can. I feel like a coffee addict...yet, I've got to keep going. I can't rest just yet. Those raptors are still on my tail. I'm constantly changing my course recently...they started launching preemptive attacks...I've walked into two of their ambushes already, barely escaping with my life each time...I've got to get smarter than them. I'm the one with the training of a hunter of Grimm. I'm the one who's an actual sentient being...I've got the real intelligence here to outwit them. I've laid traps of my own for them, and a few have worked on them...but not enough. It seems they redouble their effort each time I achieve my own victory against them...I've spent too much time writing due to my nerves. I've got to get moving, shake them somehow...If I don't, they'll get to me...or...maybe...if they can't...they know what I know. If they can't get to me anytime soon...they don't have to. I'm bound to collapse sooner or later without rest...I've...got to get going... I... must shake... Must... survive... I've got to stay awake... can't... Sitting for too long...got to get...going...drink... stimulant. Clear mind...

I hear raptors.


	12. Chapter 10

White and Blake make landfall first, at the mouth to the red obelisk's moat. White climbs up onto the land with a few contented grunts, and then Bari lands on the beach next. Gustave slides up onto the beach due to the momentum he had from swimming, sliding to a stop, and Yang, Weiss, and I cheer for him. "Good show, boy!" Yang says, patting his back before throwing herself off of him excitedly. Weiss slides off him next as i'm the final one off of him. Gustave just seems to mumble in delight he's made us happy. Blake manages to convince White to let her down, and then takes out her crutch, using it once again. I turn to Bari, White, and Gustave "You three wait here." I tell them, to which they seem to acknowledge. There's a small natural pathway around the caldera, which leads to a natural stone bridge up towards the focal point of the obelisk's beam. We begin to slowly make the trek towards the center by taking this pathway. We look up at the Obelisk, now that we've got a good look at it...it's massive. It's positioned directly above a large column of rock in the center of the moat, and six large, rock and metal structures outlining the whole caldera point up at an angle towards it. There's metal structures and glowing lights coming from the ground...it's mesmerizing. We manage to pass by some support structures for one of the three spike-like protrusions from the earth...and there's a familiar sight. A large, glowing blue pattern of a diamond shape: resembling our implants. We continue the pathway, then heading up the stone bridge onto the plateau...there, there's a large, metal pedestal that the red light from the Obelisk above focuses down on...atop the metal pedestal, there is a single terminal...a waist-high, metal protrusion...shaped like our implants, once again. We're looking up at the Obelisk as we approach the terminal...I feel like i'm going to get a stiff neck...but i'm just so mesmerized. Strangely enough...the Obelisk is nothing but an outer husk. The light coming down onto the terminal doesn't seem to emanate from the Obelisk, but rather goes through an open center and out the top, into the vast blue sky...it makes me wonder many things about the island...suddenly, I'm brought back to reality upon hearing Yang trip over Weiss's right heel. While Weiss had stopped to look up at the Obelisk, Yang had kept going, and her left foot caught on Weiss's right heel, causing her to faceplant onto the metal of the pedestal...if Weiss hadn't caught her, of course, grabbing Yang's left arm to keep her from falling. "Sorry..." Weiss says, Yang starts standing back onto her own two feet. "It's nothing... just... big... cool...object in sky made by aliens...besides, I think if I stared up for any longer my neck would get stiff..."

"I think we were all feeling the same way..." Blake says, rubbing the back of her neck. Now standing on her own two feet, Yang looks at the terminal, which is only a few feet away, then towards me "Well, Sis...you're up." My eyes widen, and I quickly rummage around, feeling the pockets on my hide outfit... where did I put it?... Hah! Found it! I pull the note from A.L out of my right pantleg pocket... and then a massive nervousness sets in. I slowly advance towards the terminal, standing in front of it. Like I would a Beacon, I open my implant after focusing on the Terminal for a minute...I'm rewarded with a different screen than usual. My heart's in my throat right now because of my nervousness. I scan the screen quickly...there IS a tab that says "Transmit ARK Data", not "Receive Tribute Data"...but maybe it's a subsection of the first. I press that button, bringing up another screen...sure enough there is a spot where I see "Receive Tribute Data". Yet, upon pressing that tab, I what looks like a space where items would go or be listed, but it's blank. I scan the rest of the screen...then I see an option I like: "Use Passcode". I quickly open up A.L's note again, now...where was it...there! Now I press the new option, and using a keypad that appears on my screen, type in 013682. The screens go away, and the light coming through the Obelisk intensifies...although only for about five seconds, before returning to normal. "Did you get anything?" I hear Blake ask. I check my inventory "...Nope." I say quickly "Nothing new."

"Well...that was anti-climactic." Weiss says, as the three of them walk closer. Yang smirks "Error. File not downloaded: Server session timeout."

"It...apparently downloaded though." I say, checking my own inventory, as well as the terminal."

"Ok, then User Error: File not Found."

"I'mma smack you."

"You know what happens when we get into fights like that. I always win."

"Because you pull my hair knowing I can't pull yours!"

"That...sounds cheap." Blake says, turning to Yang. Yang shrugs "It's not cheap and it's not cheating. It's called exploiting an opportunity."

"Putting that behind us..." I say, looking back up at the Obelisk. "I...have no idea what's next, or if there's a second step or..."

"Ya know, I was literally expecting anything to happen." Yang replies "Not nothing. Seriously, I wasn't going to be surprised if A.L herself started descending from above within the beam in some sort of godly, radiant glory."

"Haaaa-llelujah!" Weiss sings in a melodic tone. We turn toward her, and Yang's smiling with a look of approval, nodding a few times "Dang. You do sing good."

"Thanks." Weiss says smiling. "Thought I'd try being funny again."

"Unlike previous times, I'm happy to report that one was actually pretty good."

"Gee, thanks." Weiss says sarcastically, but with a smile. We all laugh, only to be interrupted by a long, deep, drawn-out growl...that scares me half to death. We slowly turn around, facing behind ourselves and...wa...wha?! There are two animals standing behind us, as if they've been standing there the whole time, and we've been oblivious to their existence. The smaller of the two is probably only 20 ft or so long, with four legs, a flattened body, back armor, a clubbed tail, and LOTS of spikes. By lots of spikes, I mean, like...spikeception. It's got some sort of saddle on it's back, which I can best easily describe as a "Metal pillow with hide draped over it for comfort"...yet, still, a singular row of back spikes protrudes from the center...granted the way the saddle seat is made...i think you're supposed to be sitting on it on your knees...then there's the big fella...and I mean...BIG fella. Four thick legs, at least 20 ft tall, covered in blue fur with some red highlights, a big head, large trunk, and a strange, branching display of tusks. He also has a saddle on his back, which runs straps for support under his belly, and to the base of his tusks. "Woolly Mammoth!" Yang says, throwing her arms in the air with a smile "Woolly Mammoth and a thingy!"

The dinosaur seems to give another low, mumbling growl after she says that...perhaps out of disapproval of being called a "thingy". Blake shakes her head as I bust out laughing "It's an Ankylosaurus." Blake replies. "And yes, you're right Yang...that's some form of Woolly Mammoth."

"So...A.L Is giving us some of her pets?" I ask, walking closer to the mammoth. "Why would she do that?"

"Well, remember when I said taming creatures could help make work easier?" Blake replies, walking over to the Ankylosaurus, and bending to get eye-level with her. "I feel like these two species are especially good workers at certain jobs."

Weiss now stands next to me, in front of the Mammoth, and Yang is over by Blake and the Ankylosaurus. Weiss slowly reaches her hand out towards the mammoth's trunk "What's your name, big guy?" she asks softly, petting his trunk. "Hmm?"

I look at the Mammoth and use my implant to check inventory...upon which, I can see his name. "Apparently, A.L named him 'Gamuto'." I state.

" 'Gamuto'?" Yang asks. "That's a strange name. Cool, but strange."

"This girl here is Petra." Blake says, after looking at Petra's inventory, and carefully petting her head. I smile "Gamuto and Petra, eh? Well then...Gamuto, Petra, I'm Ruby. These are my friends Weiss, Blake, and my sister Yang. We're Team RWBY, glad A.L sent you to help us out!"

Petra thumps her tail on the metal a few times somewhat enthusiastically as her own way of saying "Hello". Gamuto turns his head to his right, and starts reaching for something with his trunk. At first, I thought he was trying to scratch himself...but it turns out he's trying to get something from under his saddle. Thinking a moment, I open up Gamuto's inventory...sure enough, other than some berries for food, Gamuto's got something else there: a strange, metal box with a green diamond light on the top...and another note. I take these from his inventory, setting the box on the ground. "More stuff from A.L" I say, holding up the note. Blake rises to her feet and turns towards me with Yang "What's it say, sis?" Yang asks. I clear my throat "Well, at least this one is much more legible..." I remark, before starting.

"If you haven't been introduced already, may I introduce you to Gamuto and Petra: these two are among the most prime specimens of my Ankylosaurs and Mammoths. As I hinted in my earlier note, these two can help you get a firm stand on the island. Gamuto here, and Mammoths like him, are one of the few animals of the island able to uproot trees without shattering them, using their specially developed tusks and extreme strength. He'll be able to help you get the wood you need, and carry plenty of weight in the process. Petra, on the other hand, is your girl for dealing with rocks. That tail of hers does more than look like it packs a punch: it's solid and dense enough to shatter the resource-ridden rocks of the island. She can help you get the stone or metal you need easily. Although you can find metal in small quantities in any rock on the island, some yield higher metal ore content then others. In the mountains, you can often find gold-colored rocks: those are rocks, whose golden streaks tell you they teem with metal. Yet, as you can guess...the mountains are quite a distance away. Even the closest one, which I always went to, The Great Peak, is still a considerable trek: if lucky, you can make it there in a day, depending on the size of the party and those involved. Yet, I found out there's barely any need to go to the mountains unless I need copious amounts of metal. The smoother rocks found along the shores of Cragg's Island, within the shallow water of the bays and rivers, have incredibly high metal content, so they're what you want to have Petra deal with if you're looking for high metal content. Ankylosaurs are natural swift swimmers, surprisingly, and I've trained Petra, along with my others, to hold their breath for a little longer than normal in case you need to venture into deeper 'shallow" water. No need to worry about the Piranha or anything else in the river, because one good smash from Petra's tail will deal with that easily, even if she's swimming. Now, I don't know if you built a bridge across the channel, or if you swam across. If you did the latter, don't worry about Petra and Gamuto. Like Petra, Gamuto's a good swimmer. Just keep an eye out for the damn sharks. Trust me when I say Megalodon swim up into the mouth of the channel all the damn time. That said, it's best to actually go farther down the channel to where it shortens out, and becomes only freshwater. Gamuto and Petra have smacked away Piranha before, so don't worry about that. Besides...Megapiranha aren't in EVERY part of the river: if you've walked down the Cragg's island side of the channel, you may have seen the coastal waterfall on this (obelisk) side of the channel. The part of the channel directly in front of the waterfall, although still fairly wide, is shallow enough for Gamuto to walk across. That, and it has absolutely no piranha: probably because of that Onchopristis who's always there. He's a good pal of mine: never tamed him due to his level, though. So long as Gamuto doesn't step on him, he'll be fine with you.

Now, about that 'box': it's my next phase in helping you out. Just use it on a large, flat surface somewhere in where or near you're holding up. Do this, and then you and I can finally 'sit down', and have a nice talk about what's happened. Also...I don't know if you know of the metal building embedded within the slopes of the coastline underwater. I'll make this clear: that's not mine. That was there abandoned and decrepit when I myself started patrolling the oceans. I've been in there: and there's some useful stuff still sunken away in the underwater building. If you can hold your breath long enough to get inside, there are a few air pockets you can use down there to keep yourself in line. I highly recommend checking that out. Best regards, see you soon."

"See you soon?" Blake asks. I shrug "She probably didn't mean it like that." I reply "More along the lines of "A friendly goodbye, expect more of my notes later".

"...and I'm glad she put the thing about Megalodons in the channel at ease." Weiss replies "At least we weren't attacked on our way over."

"Guess we check out that safer passage." I say "While being sure not to step on an...'Ochopristis', whatever that is. Slightest idea, Blake?"

"No clue." She replies.

"Either way, I call Petra!" Yang says, walking alongside the Ankylo, before carefully throwing herself onto the saddle up top. Her excitement flees shortly after realizing she's split-legs over a row of fairly intimidating spikes. "Uhhhh...on second thought..." she says "...nah, i'll stay here. But if this is the default saddle for her...must make safer saddle."

"Yeah...don't wanna get impaled where the sun don't shine, Yang." I tease. Yang shudders "guh, please..." she responds. Weiss and Blake chuckle, before Weiss turns to Gamuto "Lemme use him for now." She says, and Gamuto responds by wrapping his trunk around her waist, and carefully helping lift her onto his back. I turn to Blake "So I guess you'll get White, and I've got Gustave?"

"Sounds like a deal."

That being said, we take our two new allies with us back down to the beach, where Bari, Gustave, and White have been waiting. While Gustave and White were doing a typical Crocodilian activity: lying around on the beach sunbathing, Bari was once again trying her luck at fishing...and, from evidence of leftovers on the beach, had caught a few good-sized coelocanth. Blake mounts White Fang once again as I happily climb atop Gustave again. Bari, seeing the fact we're moving out, head back over towards us. I take out my spyglass and look through to the other side, where the rest of our pets should be...sure enough, Titania is grazing peacefully from some bushes while Ember and Pachi seem to be enjoying a careful bout of roughhousing. Putting my spyglass down, I whistle and wave my right arm a few times...this gets their attention from across the wide bay. As soon as it's clear I have their attention, I whistle once more, and point further down the beach, to tell them "Go this way while we do". Upon seeing us move down the beach, they mirror our movements, keeping pace with us as we head farther down towards the thinner parts of the channel. I'm careful to try and find that waterfall A.L wrote about...soon enough, I see a small river cutting the beach in front of us, emerging from some small cliffs. Sure enough, tucked between them is a gorgeous waterfall right on the beach. It must be 40 ft tall and 50 ft across. Now we turn to face the other side of the channel...It's about 500 or so feet across to the other side, much narrower from the opening we originally crossed; this does give us some form of safe security. Gustave and I are first in the river, followed by Blake & White, then Bari. We swim around in the river a moment to see if it's safe...sure enough, nothing there. The water itself is very clear in this spot, revealing the sandy, beautiful bottom through the crystal clear water. "All good!" I say, waving back towards Yang and Weiss. Yang and Petra are the first duo in, as Petra begins to swiftly swim across the river. Next, Weiss begins crossing on Gamuto, who begins to trek across the river, the water coming halfway up his body, so all he needs to do is lift his trunk above water. All seems fine as we're now halfway across the channel in a few minutes, where our pets on the other side are waiting. Blake is to my left, Yang to my right, Bari also to my right, and Weiss to my left, behind me. I take a moment to look around, scanning for danger while, still riding Gustave bareback. As I turn and look at Weiss, something catches her eye off to the left, farther in the river. She takes out her spyglass and looks downstream...suddenly her face falls. "Must go faster!" she quickly says "MUST GO FASTER!"

"What's wrong?" I quickly ask.

"The piranha are back! GO FASTER!"

I quickly look downstream...and I can vaguely make out a bunch of blurs in the water darting our direction: 24 in total. I have a flashback of the scene when Yang was attacked. I'd be damned if it wasn't the exact same school! Gamuto starts stampeding through the water the best he can while Petra, Weiss, and Bari quickly start swimming faster. Why the hell now of all times? Even if Gustave is a predator of Megapiranha, Bari and White as well, only so much could be done without getting torn apart! The shoreline's right there! We can make it! I'm constantly checking over my shoulder at the approaching swarm...some of them break ahead of the others and start blitzing towards the closest prey: White and Blake. The damn things are much faster than they look, clearing a surprising distance in mere seconds, probably overstimulated by the sight of prey. I'm the first ashore and Bari follows, I turn to see black shapes in the water feet away from Blake and White. Blake takes out a spear and turns on White, ready to give him some sort of defense as they escape...but just then, the bottom of the river stirs, and a strange shape breaches the surface of the water between Blake and the piranha...it looks like a hacksaw. No sooner than I notice this, there's a flurry of motion as whatever owns that weapon starts thrashing violently, hacking the piranha to shreds, and giving Blake and White, as well as Yang, Petra, Weiss, and Gamuto, cover to escape to shore. The piranha are busy with whatever that creature is – probably the Onchopristis – rushing towards the foaming, bloody water only to die. It's like they're charging head-first into a meat grinder. Soon, the water becomes placid again...and my curiosity is raised. I get off of Gustave, then turn towards the river, looking out at where the commotion just was. Before anybody can say anything, I dive head-first into the water, swimming out in curiosity. "RUBY!" Weiss calls in a quick panic, diving off of Gamuto after me. Soon, Yang and Blake are in the water as well. The blood has already begun clearing, but there's still a noticeable cloud there, with piranha chunks everywhere in the river. I dive down a little to try and find the Onchopristis, looking through the water...finally, that same hacksaw-like object emerges again, this time, through the blood cloud. That whole growth is the snout of a long creature, 25 ft long, that I can best describe as a "flattened shark". The eyes are on the top of it's body, with a flat mouth and gills on the underside. It's swimming towards a chunk of Piranha, which it swallows with ease before turning my way. I don't feel threatened by it at all: not if A.L didn't. By now, the rest of my team is underwater with me as well. The Onchopristis swims under us, gobbling up some more piranha chunks, before swimming back towards the bottom of the water, where it does something really friggin cool. Just as it approaches the bottom of the channel, the Onchopristis changes color to match the sand and sediment in the river, then folds it's top fins – even it's tail fin – flat against it's back, sliding into the river bed, burying itself in the bottom. I quickly surface with the others, taking a large gasp for air. "Ok, He's cool." I say, after seeing the Onchopristis. Weiss shakes her head "As long as he helps keep the river safer for us, he's alright."

"Say hey." I note "Since we're all already swimming, why don't we go check out that metal structure?"

"I can do that with you and Gustave." Blake replies. "So that way we get two things done at the same time."

"Fair enough." Yang says, smiling as she starts backstroking towards the shoreline. "We'll get the new guys home, then wait for ya back at the mouth of the river. Don't get eaten by sharks, now."

"Not funny!" I say with a pouty face, especially with what happened earlier in the day. Yang and Weiss head back ashore and start leading the rest of our animals home, save for Gustave, who joins us in the water. We climb onto his back, Blake behind me. I look over my shoulder at Blake "Do you remember where it is?" I ask. Blake nods "Yeah, I do. Just follow our river to where it meets the sea. Then we'll go from there." So, we ride Gustave up the channel towards where our river branches from it, and take the river as a natural highway down to where it meets the ocean. With Gustave's speed, the whole journey is about 5 minutes, surprisingly. Now at the same bay where Blake once went for a test dive with White Fang, we're ready to begin our decent. I look back at Blake again "You sure you're ready?" I ask. Blake smirks "Just because Yang points out i'm not a catfish doesn't mean I know how to hold my breath...I'd like to ask you the same question."

"I've done plenty of 'hold-your-breath contests' with Yang growing up." I say with a smile "So I should be able to keep my breath in until we find one of those pockets A.L spoke of."

"If that's the case, I think we're ready."

Facing forwards, I give a slight tap on Gustave's back. Sure enough, he dives down immediately, quickly submerging into the coastal water...wow...Blake wasn't kidding when she said the reefs were beautiful. There's so many vibrant colors everywhere. Swimming out to the drop-off, we pause a moment to try and figure out where the structure is. In seconds, Blake taps my right shoulder and points down to the cliff face...there it is! Gustave swims for it as fast as he can...I really don't like the feeling of going deep underwater. The feeling of safety seems to simply lessen and lessen the deeper we go. Finally in front of the opening, Gustave turns and swims down into it. The entire passageway is about 40 ft wide and 50 ft tall...and very dark. Yet, as we round a dark corner, light comes into view, from beautiful glowing coral. The coral glows in a light blue shape, and is simply beautiful...but we can't stop and admire it for long. I'm starting to run out of air...and so is Blake. I look around frantically...and see a light blue, square-shaped spot above...which seems to be the surface of the water. I quickly point at it, and Blake and I get off of Gustave and frantically swim up towards the light just above. I gasp for air as I enter a pocket of air caused by what seems to be the ceiling opening of a large air duct, 10ft by 10ft. The area is lit up in an eerie, yet beautiful blue-green glow caused by the coral underneath. Blake gasps for air as she surfaces seconds after me. I turn around, treading water, facing her. "Well, we're here!" I say with a smile. "and this place is really flippin cool!"

"It really is." Blake replies "With the way the coral lights everything up. It adds to the whole mystery of the place. Yet, they're probably some Benthic dwellers down here, if logic serves correct."

"Benthic dwellers?" I ask.

"It's a term used to describe creatures who live a the bottom of the water. Like the Onchopristis from earlier. There's probably going to be a few deep-water animals down here: things that like to live in caves and dark water. Granted, bows won't work underwater too well. Have you got any spears?"

"I've got a few." I say, taking them out of my inventory and putting them onto my back, three spears in total. "How about you?"

"I've only got three as well." Blake replies "So whatever we're going to loot from here, we need to be quick."

Agreeing to this, we dive back down and begin to explore the hallways with Gustave again, taking air breaks in duct tunnels and other air pockets as we go along. We don't find anything too interesting, just a bunch of scrap metal and the like along the ocean floor. One time, I grab a large metal sheet and begin to lift it out of the water, only to have something in the shadows underneath suddenly try to grab my legs. I kick back and swim backwards out of it's grasp. What begins to emerge from the shadow of the metal sheet is what I would best describe a flattened aquatic scorpion. I pull out a spear, ready to defend myself, but Gustave does that for me, snatching up the Sea Scorpion quickly in his jaws, and devouring it. I give a sigh of relief, and the three of us continue to advance through the hallway. Eventually, we enter into a large, circular room about 100ft or so in diameter. There's a lot of metal cabinets, and even large computer screens here. What's best is that the whole ceiling of the room is above water by about five feet, giving us a large, plentiful source of air. With this, we take our time rummaging through the well-lit area. Sure, the scrap metal could be melted down and used for how we'd like...but we're doing this with Gustave, and he can only carry so much...hm...it's a struggle to try and find anything that may be worth being called "useful". I'm looking around under debris, in drawers, and other things. Blake swims over to some sort of old locker, and starts trying to force the doors open. She fidgets with the lock several times, before finally opening the door. She then waves to me, hinting she's found something. I swim over, and she's found what appears to be five strange stabbing devices...they look like long metal spears, with a strange tip. Blake takes one from the locker and holds it with both hands, tip pointed up into the air. She turns towards me, curious about it. We hover there in the water as Blake looks over the weapon, noting...a switch down near an end. Blake flips the switch, and then, there's the sound of cackling electricity as part of the weapon glows, and electricity begins to course around the tip of the rod, making a low humming noise. We stare wide-eyed at it, now realizing it's a kind of electric shock prod. Blake quickly turns off the electricity, and we take the other electric prods out of the locker, before surfacing once more for air. "So. Shock prods." I say.

"Apparently." Blake says, checking her implant. "From what the description in my inventory is saying, they deliver a single shock of electricity before they need to be recharged. Granted we have five of them, and there's four of us, I think we've got one free trial before we...need to be more careful with how we use them."

"I bet. Why is it single-use, though?"

"Well, according to the implant, it's saying they deliver minimal damage, but a massive amount of torpor. So...it's more taming assistance."

"Whatever works, I guess. First useful thing we've found down here, then!"

"There's some more drawers and cabinets we need to go through. You take the right side of the room, and i'll take the left, alright?"

"Alright."

We dive back down and take our respective sides of the room. I rummage through more drawers and lockers, but there isn't much. I then see what looks like some sort of refrigeration unit on the floor, the door facing up at me. I swim down and slowly open the door. There's nothing but spoiled rotten meat in the whole thing...but there's a container off to the side with something. I grab that and open it...woah! I reach into the small container and pull out a piece of Super Test Meat! I guess whoever had this base got a hold on some of these, too. There's two other pieces in the container. I start waving over at Blake, who swims over to see what I've found. Upon seeing the pieces of Super Test Meat, she smiles, nodding, and patting me on the back a few times. I put the meat back into the container, seal the container again, and tuck it away. We spend a good 9 more minutes swimming around, trying to find anything else of value. We manage to salvage about 20 good pieces of electrical panels and chipping, such as what would be used for hard drives or the like. Our Inventories tell us they're a high-end material, so might as well. I start passing by a dark hallway when something catches my eye...Three immobile, glowing blue lights in the darkness. The one in the middle is bigger than the other two. I'm curious, but I wave Blake over first to check it out. She swims over, now also curious by what it is in the darkness...but we don't want to swim into the pitch-black hallway to find out. I look around near the floor...and I see what looks like a large spotlight-flashlight. I pick that up, and hit the side a few times...looks like it has a good battery. The whole thing kinda looks like a film camera, with a rectangular body, square-shaped lens, and a handle to hold it up top. I turn towards Blake, who takes out one of the electric prods, turning it on. It hums with electricity once again, and Blake nods at me, prod ready to use in self-defense. I point the spotlight down the hallway, then press the power button using my thumb. The light instantly catches on, flooding the dead-end hallway with light...and revealing something pretty scary. A huge fish, just bigger than a man, with a massive mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, strange fins, a large head but small body and tail, and three glowing stalks on the front of it's head: it's a giant angler fish! It's body is a strange, ruddy red-and-purple color. It's peculiar, retina-less, single-colored pale white eyes are suddenly flooded with light. It seems to panic, with suddenly going blind, as well as the fact it's been spotted. Strangely enough for a fish, it growls, before charging right at us out of fear and desperation. Blake immediately stabs at the fish, getting it right above the top jaw. Immediately, electricity courses through the shock prod into the fish, stunning it in place. It utters a long growl as it's body shakes as it's electrocuted, before going limp, knocked unconscious. Blake puts the useless prod away in her inventory, seeming to like the usefulness of the electric prods. I look at the poor Angler, a level 54 female, as she floats there. I feel bad for her, after all: she lashed out in fear and panic. I look at Blake, and she shrugs, pointing at her wrist, as if to say "we don't have the time to try and tame it". I shake my head, opening my inventory. Even if it is just for an angler, it's an angler we didn't have, and a good level one. I take out a piece of Super Test Meat, and feed it to the Angler. Immediately, she wakes up, tamed and ready to help. Blake and I by now are running out of air again, so we head back up to the surface, the Angler following us diligently. "Well...I guess at least we have an ocean tame, now." Blake says with a smile, as the Angler swims back and forth beneath us. I smile "Yeah. I mean, I've had pet fish before...but this is ridiculous. Do you know what it is, even?"

"Other than a giant angler fish? No, unfortunately. Although...it seems like her light got a bit brighter since taming, and I've noted she's giving off a slight bit of heat with her esca, so I think she's perfect for exploring the deep ocean, and these dark passageways."

"I was thinking similarly. And i'm guessing the 'esca' are her little lantern thingys?"

"Yes, which are a type of ilium – the fancy word for the dangly things". Blake says, pointing out her index fingers, and waving them in front of her head, like they were her own little dangly things. I laugh. "You're smarter than you look, Blake. No offense."

"When you read things, curiosity can get to you easily." she says "One thing leads to another, and then your head starts to hurt with all you've learned."

"I bet. So what's her name?"

"Well, I'm thinking Chari. Short for Charybdis. I don't know if you know what that is."

"Actually, I do!" I say, smiling. "It's from the Odyssey, which was one of the coolest stories Yang read to me when I was younger. It was the whirlpool-monster."

"Hm! Glad to know you've read it too." Blake says, pleasantly surprised. I smile "Yeah, well, remember what I said when I first talked to you? I like stories. Especially adventure ones like that."

"Gives me something to talk to you about when we finally have our chat." Blake says, winking. I nod "Yeah, I guess. So you wanna look around here some more?"

"Sure. Take Chari and go down the one hallway that's left. Be careful."

I nod, before we dive back under again. I swim over to Chari, and look...hmm.. ah! She actually has a few ridges on her back that are the perfect place to grab on to. I swim around behind her and grab on, to which she instinctively seems to be ok with, ready to receive my directional input. We turn towards the one hallway that is left to be explored, and start swimming down that. Chari's light from her lanterns are lighting up a good sized area with a nice blue glow. I'm keeping a careful watch for the hallway as we go down...still nothing...until we come to the dead end, formed by collapsed debris. Yet...there's something there at the bottom. A locked, waterproofed chest. I let go of Chari, then swim down towards it...it's a BIG locked chest, about 5 ft across...hm. I decide to try and see...I grab at the chest, not with the intention of picking it up or picking the lock, but with the intention of putting it in my inventory. Just as I do this, the chest becomes cloaked in a layer of digital material, before disappearing...and I feel the weight of it on me. I think...ow...i've gained like...80 pounds...I turn towards Chari, slightly encumbered by my this new weight. I've got 190 of 250 personal weight...no wonder I feel slow. I check Chari's inventory, and she's able to max-level due to me taming and mounting her. Similar to ember, I double her health, stamina, put her weight at 250, then the rest into her melee damage, before swimming back onto her. Chari's able to swim back out to the larger room quickly enough so I can get a breath of air...without her, I feel like I might have drowned, due to the weight of this box. I surface on the back of Chari, and soon Blake and Gustave surface as well. "So you maxed out her levels, eh?" Blake asks. I nod "Yeah, decided to go ahead and do that...she's surprisingly quick for her size, and I didn't even put her in a full-on 'sprint', so I feel like she can go faster...good, because I really feel weighed down."

"Just finished Gustave's leveling myself." Blake replies "and what's up? Find something?"

"Big, locked, waterproofed metal box." I say. "Put the whole thing in my inventory...i'm feeling weighed down."

"I bet. Let's head back up to the surface. Weiss and Yang are probably waiting."

"Alright. Sounds good."

"Watch out, now." Blake warns "don't have Chari surface too quickly, alright? Don't want you to get a case of the BENDS, now, do we?"

"What's that?" I ask, tilting my head.

"It's decompression sickness." Blake replies "It happens if you ascend from deep-water pressure to standard pressure quickly. It can cause disorientation, even unconsciousness and seizures...so try to hold your breath a little longer and take it easy."

"Yeah...i'll do my best."

Blake climbs atop Gustave, and we begin to leave the building, taking advantage of the vents when we need to for air. At the last one before the exit, both Blake and I take big gulps of air before diving back down, getting back on Gustave and Chari, before swimming out of the structure, and towards the surface. We're going quickly, but not too quickly. I try to hold my breath as long as I can...but I can...feel...i'm reaching my breaking point. I soldier on the best I can. Luckily, ten seconds later, we're at the surface, and I gasp for air, Blake surfacing right next to me. "Feeling alright?" I ask, turning to her. Blake shakes her head, shaking the water out of her hair and her ears...especially her feline ears. "I'm alright...just waterlogged. You?"

"Waterlogged, but ok." I say smiling.

"Ahoy there!" I hear Yang's voice say. Looking back towards the beach, we can see Yang and Weiss on the shoreline. Weiss sits in the surf of the waves, her legs dangling into the water. Blake and Gustave are the first over, slowly crawling up onto the beach. Chari and I are next, as she swims into the shallower water of the brackish-water of the mouth of the river, with her head poking out of the water. I let go of her and start swimming towards the shore. Yang scoffs "That...is one UGLY mug." She says, looking at Chari's head. Weiss is kinda...curious about Chari, tilting her head "Was she in the sunken building?" Weiss asks. I nod "Yeah. She was. As well as three more super test meats...one of which I used on her. Sorry!"

"Well...anything else down there?"

"Electric Zap-prods!" I say, emerging from the surface, and taking one out of my inventory fairly quickly. Weiss quickly stands up upon seeing me swing it around "Ey! Watch it!" she fusses. I smirk "Hey, they need to be turned on first. There's one for each of us, and a bonus one we already used, too. Just be careful, because it's only got one use before it's gone, and needs to be recharged."

Yang takes the one from my hands. "Dang...this is kinda heavy. Bet it's really effective, eh?"

"Knocked out Chari in one go." Blake comments, to which Chari growls. Weiss steps back "Growling fish? I've heard it all."

"Some fish can growl by passing air through their lungs or gills." Blake states. "So it's not much of a surprise to me."

"Yeah well...i'm not as smart as you in that regard."

"Neither am I. I'm just curious from my readings."

Yang starts to say something, probably drop a pun, but Blake turns on the electric prod in her own grasp. "Don't even." she states. Yang backs up, hands in the air, still holding onto a prod. "Yo, don't taze me bro." She says, putting on an act. We laugh, and I check my inventory. "Oh, and there was also this." I say, taking out the box from my inventory. "A locked box of stuff. Yang, think you can work your brute-strength magic?"

"Sure. Lemme use a little Abra-Kadabra!" As says "Abra" and "Kadabra", she holds up one of her fists, then another, and moves over to the locked box. She puts her right foot up on the box, then grabs at the lock, and starts pulling violently. I bet that thing could probably have taken a beating from any storm, like it was probably made to. But a beating from Yang? She's torn off the lock in about ten seconds, then steps off the top of the box, flipping the latch open, then opening the top of the lid. There's five total scuba suits in there! They even seem to be reinforced with some sort of armor for certain parts, such as shoulders or elbows. "Too cool!" I say, picking up an oxygen tank. Yang's sharing my enthusiasm, picking up something else. "Hey look. Isn't this one of those old-fashioned 'walkie-talkies'?"she asks, holding it up. Blake picks up a scuba mask "It appears so...and this headgear seems to have radio communications as well."

"Should we test everything, to see if it works?" Weiss asks. Blake nods "sounds like a logical idea. Who wants to go diving real quick, other than me?"

"I would," I say, rubbing my right ear "But i'm feeling a little light-headed, and I've got popping in my ears...don't think the pressure in my ears have equalized yet."

"I have four ears, yet you're the one complaining of decompression sickness?" Blake jests.

"Hey, not like I've got a full on case of it. My head just hurts. Besides, won't you need somebody topside to help you out?"

"True."

So we start setting things up. We get the channels of the walkie-talkies and scuba masks to their appropriate channels, fine-tuning them, before it's time to test the scuba suits themselves. Stripping down to the bare essentials, Weiss, Blake, and Yang then start putting on the diving gear as I finish adjustments on the radios. "Ever wanted to go diving, Weiss?" Yang asks with a bit of a tease, as she finishes pulling on her wetsuit. Weiss grins "I've wanted to do a lot of things in life. Scuba diving was one of them, for sure." she says, adjusting the straps of her scuba tank on her back. "Snap...this is heavier than I thought it would be."

"Eh, you'll get used to it." Blake says, picking out her mask. "I'm just happy the mask doesn't cover the top of my head."

"Don't wanna crush your little cat ears, hm?" Yang teases. Blake nods with a grin "Hey, I just dove down there with Ruby. Contrary to popular belief, submerging underwater for me isn't half-bad with these things. But yes, crushing the ears for extended periods of time is a definite no for me." She's the first putting on her mask, adjusting it to the size of her head. Yang and Weiss do similarly, before they turn to me. Yang gives me a thumbs-up gesture, and I nod back with a smile "Alright! Have fun, and i'll call you in a few seconds once you're underwater. Stay safe!" Yang, Weiss, and Blake then start walking into the water, before they're deep enough to swim. Once they're deep enough, they dive down underneath the surface. I pick up the nearest radio and turn it on, then make sure for the ump-teenth time I'm on the right frequency. I'm sitting on the sand now, with my back on Gustave. Chari's out swimming around the others, as if keeping an eye on them. "Alright, first radio test. Ya'll read me? Over." I listen in...they don't reply. I can see them right under the surface out in the mouth of the river...they don't seem to be having problems with anything. I click the radio back on again "Ya'll sure the masks are on? I think the switch is up under the left side...or something."

a couple seconds later, I hear a signal, an exhale, and then a voice "There we go. That worked." Yang says "Can ya hear me, sis?"

"Yep. You sound a little funny, to be honest." I say, noting Yang's hushed tone due to the system in the masks. There's another signal and breath as Yang responds "Heh, wouldn't be surprised."

"Yeah. Weiss? How's your system holding?"

"Fine!" She replies. "Hearing me?"

"Yep. Blake?"

"Loud and clear." she responds. "You hearing me?"

"Yep. Looks like those three units are working. So, Blake: is it any prettier down there, with your vision clear now?"

"Pretty isn't even a word to describe it. It's beautiful." she says, looking over the reefs with Weiss, and Yang, as Chari swims around them casually. "I can see as clear as day, and the colors are just perfect."

"Lovin this, Weiss?" Yang asks.

"Definitely like I thought it would be!" Weiss says, obviously enjoying herself. They start swimming through the reef with Chari. "Say hey." I ask. "How much oxygen is in those tanks?"

Blake checks her implant. "Apparently...wow. Five hours worth. Whoever made these things...knows how to make proper compressed oxygen. The system seems refillable simply by opening a valve to let air inside...i wonder if there are filters and the like to purify the oxygen content. Regardless, I think we'll be able to use these for a long time."

"Sounds like a plan." I reply. "See anything interesting down there?"

"EVERYTHING is interesting!" Weiss replies, as they continue to scan the reef. A few moments later, Yang, as she patrols over the reefs, finds something. "Hey!" she says, then starts trying to grab at something "Don't get away from me! No! Don't try that!" She seems to start swimming after something in the reefs, before suddenly grabbing at something. Upon lifting it up, Weiss and Blake can see Yang's caught a black aquatic lizard, about 3 ft long. "I found a lizard!" Yang says smiling, as the creature tries thrashing in her grasp, but to no avail "I found a water lizard!"

"What is it?" Weiss asks. Blake swims a little closer, and the lizard opens it's mouth at her, as if to bite her, but Yang regains control "Ey! None of that!"she says, as she keeps a firm hold of the lizard. Blake looks inside the lizard's mouth, holding the creature behind it's jaws. "Looks like he actually wouldn't hurt too much. These look like they're developed for seaweed. As for what it is...it's apparently a Keichousaurus."

"Sounds adorable!" I say over the radio. Weiss shakes her head "Cool-looking...but not exactly adorable. Then again, probably anything is adorable to you. You probably think Chari is adorable."

"She is, now that she's tamed!"

"My point exactly."

"Yang, bring it up top." Blake says "I think it was trying to get to the surface anyway, not run away from you."

"Ah, I see. Sure."

I look out towards where I see them, and slowly they make their way to the surface. The Keichou is black in color, and seems to calm down after being allowed to breathe. I wave over to them "Hey, bring him over here." I say over the radio "He can chill out with me and Gustave while you all keep enjoying yourselves."

"Wishing you were here, sis." Yang says with a smile, swimming into the shallower water with the Keichousaurus. I wade into the water, and take the lizard from her arms "Got him?" Yang asks through her mask, her voice muffled. I nod "Got him."

Yang backs out before diving back underwater with Weiss and Blake. I carry the Keichousaurus ashore, then rest him down on the sands next to me and Gustave. He's completely placid now, apparently only panicking due to fear of predation and wanting to struggle to the surface to breathe. Now knowing we won't hurt him, and no longer in fear of drowning, he's chill as heck, lying on the sand next to me , completely calm. I watch the others through the clear water as they explore the reefs at the mouth of the river, occasionally looking at the Keichou on my right, as he basks on the sand. Strangely, he suddenly sprays small spurts of water from his nose. I find this weirdly cute, and stare at him for a little while to see if he will do it again. About a minute later, sure enough, he spurts more water. I giggle a little bit at it, and he slowly looks my way, and looks up at me with a suspicious, sarcastic look that says "What?". I shake my head "You...are just adorable". The lizard turns, as if to go back into the water."Nooo..." I say with a smile, carefully grabbing him "Mine.". I pick him up and place him on my lap, and he rests upon my legs, seemingly content with resting there, and he "sneezes" more water from his nose. Just by petting with him I seem to tame him, which is interesting. After about five minutes, the others come up out of the water, and onto the shore, taking their masks off. I smile "How was it?"

"Gorgeous." Weiss replies "I can't tell how many different shells and stuff I picked up down there."

"Oh? Really?"

"Yeah." She says, reaching into her inventory. "Check out this one." she pulls takes out an elongated, sparkling, smooth, lavender shell that was probably from an oyster of some sort. I casually take it from her hand, and admire it. It's lavender on top, but a creamy white underneath. "That's really pretty." I say, handing it back to her "starting a collection?"

"Sort of." she says putting it away. "Although i'm thinking more along the lines of necklaces and such."

"Even on the ARK you have to have some sort of jewelry..." Yang teases. Weiss turns and stamps her foot with a huff, and I chuckle. "You find anything else?" I ask.

"Some more silica pearls, which helps." Blake says, undoing her diving suit "After all, I think Quru's saddle required some for crafting. Yang found the best thing down there, though."

"What was that?"

Yang smiles, holding up a massive shark tooth, slightly bigger than her hand. "Megalodon tooth." she said with a smile. I look directly at the sharp object in her hands. "Welp, sis." I say "It looks like you struck gold."

"Darn right I did." she replied, taking off the diving gear's top, and then looking at the Keichou on my lap. "How have you two been?"

"We're fine. He's tamed, surprisingly...I name him Kawaii."

"NO." Weiss states firmly. "Please, no."

"Yes."

"He is not-"

"Yes he is!"

"He's cool but he's not-"

"Kawaii Keichou!"

"NO."

"He is Gimli." Yang states. We turn to her "Why Gimli?" I ask.

"It's the beard." she says, pointing at the Keichousaurus. He has a little flap of skin directly underneath his head and along the underside of his neck. I stroke the underside of his chin once, and he quickly lifts his head and turns it the other way, looking at me out of the corner of he eye, as if to say "Don't touch my beard". We laugh "Gimli it is, then!" I say.

"Good. Name something that's actually cute Kawaii, and I'll be fine with it." Weiss says to me. I nod "Alright. Deal."

They continue to take off the suits and change back into their usual equipment. I look at Gimli "Ya know, he's been...kinda funny up here with me."

"How's that?" Yang asks, putting her hide shirt back on. I look at Gimli, who slowly turns to look at me. "He's just kinda...lazy, yeah...but he keeps doing this thing with his nose."

"What's he doing?" Blake asks. The minute she asks that, Gimli sprays water out of his nose into my face, and the others start laughing. "That!" I say, shaking my head quickly from getting sprayed in the face from water out of Gimli's nose. "Guhh! It's salty!" I say, spitting off to the side. Yang's dying from this, as Blake bends down and looks at Gimli. "Hmmm...He's got concentrations of something around his nose. Look" she says, pointing under Gimli's nose. Sure enough, there's some sort of crystalizing...something on his face. "Huh..." I say curiously. Weiss bends down to look at Gimli out of curiosity, and Yang, calming back down, does similarly. "I guess you're right" I reply "Any idea how?"

"There's a dossier for that..." Blake says, checking her Implant for the Keichou dossier. Upon finding it, she reads it to herself a moment. "Ah, alright. It says here: 'Keichousaurus live on a diet of seaweed, able to hold its breath for quite some time, but its life in the high tide means that seawater accumulates in the animal's nose, which it spews out during its resting hours, forming Salt formations around its nose, these can be harvested for Salt.' That's...useful."

"Definitely a thing." Weiss says, checking Gimli's inventory "and he's already got plenty for us. I'll probably be able to do something with it."

"Knowing you!" I say smiling, before lifting Gimli off of my legs, and onto the ground. "A.L said she stored her smaller aquatic animals at the mouth of the river here. We can leave Chari and Gimli down here with Gustave and Bari. That way they have some protection until we're able to set up walls."

"Sounds like an idea." Yang says, stretching, and looking out at the setting sun "Today has been eventful...so let's go home."

"I second that." Weiss says, to which Blake and I agree. Leaving Gustave down with Chari and Gimli, we make our way back to the house. We tell Bari to stay down near Gustave and the others, and she goes off to join them at the basin below the cliff. I look the others, taking out the strange box from earlier. "Well...i think we should use this thingy." I say "What do you all think?"

"Probably." Yang says "but I think the wooden stuff I laid down earlier might be in the way."

"Tear it down then."

"Hmm...so long as we get to keep some of the resources."

The four of us work together in demolishing the wooden structures that were laid down earlier, salvaging the resources and storing them away back inside our thatch shack. Once that's done, we now look over the large, flat expanse in front of us "Wonder what it is?" Weiss asks "After all...she said it needed a lot of room."

"Well...could be anything." Yang says "knowing ARK, knowing her...maybe it's an alien spaceship."

"I doubt that highly." Blake replies "Yet...she's been helpful so far. Whatever it is, it's probably something useful. She's given us advice and two of her tames: if that's not reason enough to trust her, then I don't know what else is."

I turn the box over in my hands, trying to figure out how to use it. Eventually, I tap the diamond-shaped icon on the box. This causes a response, as the box begins to glow. It highlights a large area of the ground in front of us, before suddenly opening, and there's a flash of green-white light. I've got my hands covering my face at first, as are the others, and I can feel the box no longer in my hands. "So, what did that accomplish?" Weiss asks, eyes closed, hands still in front of her. I slowly bring my arms down... "G...Guys...check it out."

They slowly look up at what I see...where there was once a clear field, a large, stone building equivalent to a mansion now stands. All of us are quiet at first, slowly walking up onto the stone patio in shock. There's...a friggin doorbell to the right of the reinforced wooden double doors. Slowly, I grab the metal door handle...it's unlocked. I pull the door out, opening it, and I'm the first inside...there's a singular, massive room beyond that door. To the right, two staircases, the wall to my right and behind them completely made of glass, from ceiling to floor, allowing for a beautiful view of the ocean, and the sunsets. Between the staircases, against the glass wall, is a large fish tank, with a few coelocanth swimming around in it. The staircases themselves go up, before turning in directions opposite to each other, and up towards a second floor. Across from us, on the other side of the room, there's a door leading to somewhere else. We're in shock from all this...suddenly, Yang starts quickly walking up to something, her face in a blank look of shock. There's a black couch, with a wooden table in front of it. An end table is to the left of the couch, and near that, a black-cushioned designer metal chair that could probably fit two people...but that's not what Yang's walking towards. She's walking directly towards what is against the wall, directly across from the couch...a freaking 72 inch flatscreen TV on a TV stand! She stares at it blankly for several seconds "...DAHECK WOULD YOU NEED THIS FOR?!" she finally says, throwing up both her arms, gesturing towards her reflection in it's screen. We walk over, near her "Well...maybe the same way Weiss wants to make jewelry. Comforts of home."

"Comforts of home? Daheck does a TV, a TV, a T-FRIGGIN-V, even become plausible on this place?! Not that it's not awesome, but really?! REALLY?!"

"...no clue." Blake says, looking around, and noticing a few ceiling lights above us "But...there does seem to be power here."

"From what? Magic?"

"Solar Panels." Weiss states. We turn to her "How would you know that?" Yang asks. We see Weiss having gone into one of the drawers in the TV stand, and pulled out another note from A.L "It says it right here." Weiss replies "Lemme...start over from the top." She clears her throat.

" _Welcome Home. This place here was actually an old base from a distant part of the island made in effort by me and some good friends of mine. Thanks in part to the Observers, I've managed to give this whole building to you as a gift of friendship and trust. You may wonder about the electricity. Well, Solar Panels on the roof help with that. Plumbing? (Yes, I did say "plumbing", there) Is also automatically run from the nearest source. If you've set up at the top of the cliff, you'll notice a metal piping network running down the side of the cliff now (apart from where you're storing your animals, though). There's a pump with a high-end filtration system that hooks up to every faucet in the house, so you'll get plenty of water wherever you need. As for the TV...I myself don't know WHY I made it...it was in the Building X-tras Constructor, so I...made a TV. I'm glad I did...because I actually found a retro gaming console in a Beacon one day. That thing is dope as hell, even if it has nothing but a bunch of classic, old games. I found a more modern one, as well. They and their respective games are both in the bottom right drawer-_ "

Just as Weiss begins to say that, Yang suddenly flies towards the door of the respective drawer, getting onto her knees and quickly opening the drawer. There's two distinctively different video game consoles, one appearing much older than the other. I'm bending down right next to Yang in eager excitement, looking over everything in excitement. "Hell Yes!" Yang says, looking over everything "This one's like...1996!...and this one's around...2015!"

"Really cool!" I say "but...aren't those...still both kinda 'retro'?..."

"...I see your point. Granted what we have back home...and the fact the 'modern' one doesn't look like it has any sort of scroll compatibility."

"...I'm going to go out on a limb here." Blake says "She might have just meant the one from 2015 to be a more recent one...if not that...than maybe what just popped into my mind is...not far off."

"What are you thinking?" I ask.

"What if ARK doesn't take just animals from across time...but people, too?"

"Wait..." Yang says, turning to face Blake. "Y...you think...maybe A.L was from around the 21st century?"

"She mentioned that after ARK Armageddon the ARK went into autonomous mode and started collecting human specimens again...what if the first time ARK's drones were paying a visit to Remnant was around A.L's time?"

"Would explain it..."

I'm looking over the consoles and their games. A lot of the games of the 1996 console seem more humorous, or cartoon-based; while the one from the 2015 console seem to be different kinds of shooters, or fighting games. I can obviously tell which one Yang will be interested in: not the one I am. Yang starts looking over the 2016 console and reading the backs of the games that go with it, as I expected, as I start going over the 1996's consoles. Weiss shakes her head with a smile, and continues reading A.L's note.

" _Aside from that, that's about all there is to say about this room. Also, for God's sake, PLEASE treat the video game stuff the right flipping way...if you break it, there's practically no fixing it. Other than that, the layout for this larger room is fairly clear, and an open canvas: use it how you'd like! The room across from the front door is the kitchen. Go on ahead over, I've got another note over there."_

Begrudgingly leaving the video game stuff alone, we head on over to the kitchen. It's through another set of wooden double doors, and the room is fairly large. To the left, there's a stone fireplace and a wooden rocking chair facing it. In front of us, a wooden table with eight chairs around it: one on each end, and three each along the sides. To the far right, there's a large, wooden bar counter in an J-shape, bending away from us. There's four bar stools up at the counter itself. We head on over to the counter, which Weiss walks behind, as Blake, Yang, and I take our seats on the stools...the kitchen behind Weiss, is quite incredible. There's a stone sink with flat space large enough for her stone cutting board. She turns on the faucet, and sure enough, water begins to trickle out. She turns the water off, then looks at the nearby standing pantry. Nothing's in it, but it still seems effective. There's also two wooden cabinets on the walls she looks into for a moment, and they're also empty. There's a rustic-looking cast-iron wood cook stove, which Weiss examines for a moment. It even has pots and kettles still ready for use. There are four wine casks, as well. Two of which lie on a shelf next to each other , the other two on the far end of the bar counter, away from us. Each one with a faucet for retrieving their liquid content. Weiss opens one of the wine casks and stares inside a moment "Well..." she says "I don't think any of us will be having any wine anytime soon...but I could probably make a mocktail something or other."

"Better learn how to make me my strawberry sunrise." Yang teases. Weiss smirks "Well, we'll see if there are even strawberries here eventually. Regardless, I'll be able to do something. Although it seems these can also preserve solid materials as well."

she then closes the cask she's looking into, and finally turning to what we all have noticed since looking at the kitchen: a the only thing that doesn't fit the quaint, old-fashioned, family style of the room: a sleek, modern, black, double-door refrigerator. Weiss grabs the right door handle and opens it, and immediately there's an audible hum and there's a blast of cold air on her face. "Ok, THIS will come in handy." she says, enjoying the cooling feeling of the air coming from the fridge "Regardless if it fits the décor or not."

"Heh, you're going to love this whole kitchen." I say, to which Weiss closes the door of the fridge and turns to me. "Ya think?" She says with a smile "I already have several ideas in mind...trust me, this kitchen will be pretty effective with me at the helm."

"Your kitchen, your rules."

"Exactly...which is why feet off my counter, YANG!"

Weiss was the first to notice Yang, who has her feet up on the bar counter top, her stool leaned back. Yang smiles "Yo, didn't know the rules first. Gimme a break. Just enjoying myself."

"You're free to enjoy myself, just feet off of where I'll be making your food!"

"k."

Yang moves her feet about two feet or so to the right. "Yang!" I say with a laugh, as Blake smiles. Yang smirks "what? They're not going to be where she's cooking or i'm eating."

"I'm going to basically be using the whole counter!" Weiss replies.

"Welp. We got a problem, then, don't we?"

"Hate to do this..." Weiss says, pushing Yang's feet off the counter suddenly. This causes Yang to loose balance on her chair, and she falls backwards onto the stone floor, but catches herself, landing on her rear instead of her back. There's a slight bit of laughter "Heh, dang Weiss! Protect your kitchen like Ruby protects Ember, why don'tcha?" Yang says, slowly standing "That could have gone pretty bad, you know."

"Then don't mess with me and my kitchen." Weiss says, scrunching her nose mockingly.

"Fair enough." Yang replies, before seeing a note underneath a bowl on the counter. She pulls it out from underneath the bowl, and reads it.

" _Kitchen. Love the hell out of this place. I always liked the modest and family atmosphere of this room. It was always nice to sit down with friends around the dinner table at night with the fireplace going. Reminded me that the ARK...well, it's home. New home, regardless. Farming is going to be essential for you, here. Harvesting in the bushes allows you to sometimes find seeds of native crops. Longrass is basically corn, Savorroot are potatoes, Rockkarrot are Carrots, and Citronal are a type of citrus fruit (hince the name). You can also find cocoa beans in the forest, tea and mint leaves, even grape seeds. Sometimes down by the river you can find Sugarcane and rice. There's plenty of resources to be found when it comes to farming. Dodos are good for farming meat and eggs, while Phiomia and Aurochs are your main meat livestock. Phiomia meat is similar to pig meat, and you can get quite a bit from a single one. That, and...they're literally poop factories. Feed a stack of 100 stimberries to a Phiomia, then try to keep a straight face. It's the perfect 'Try not to Laugh' challenge first time around...just stand back."_

Yang just about looses it reading that sentence. She's laughing so hard she nearly falls off the stool again, and ends up just slamming her arms down onto the table, her head down on top of them, dying into the counter top. I smile at seeing Yang so happy, and Weiss just seems...disturbed by what A.L said about the...Phiomia. Yang literally can't keep a straight face, and I have to swipe the note from her to continue reading it. I clear my throat, then read on.

" _The Aurochs are ancient relatives of cattle. Sometimes you can find them in open plains and sparse woods on Cragg's Island. Keep a few sows, but only one bull. Not also can Bulls be good work animals, but...Bulls tend to get incredibly aggressive with each other, so don't get more than one. I don't know if you or any of your fellow tribemates are much into cooking, but if you check the cabinet above the counter top, you'll see a collection of recipes I've gathered throughout my time here. Trust me when I say they're all tried and true: edible, AND enjoyable."_

Weiss takes a moment to open the cabinet to our left, above the end of the counter top. There's a fairly thick book on the inside which she starts to flip through. "Well then..." she says with a bit of a smile "Looks like you can actually eat pretty well on this island."

"As long as we have our options." Blake replies, before turning to me "Where do we go next?"

I check the note "The stairs closest to the kitchen, apparently." I tell them "The bathroom will be the door right down the hall, and then the door to the right is the master living quarters."

"There's a bathroom?" Weiss quickly asks, slamming the book shut, and looking directly at me. The sudden slamming shut of the book catches us all off-guard. Yang shakes her head, slowly rising, and straightening her back "Somebody doesn't want to vive le wild anymore." she jests. I chuckle at this "Alright, guess we're heading upstairs then. Although, I don't know why you're excited, Weiss. I don't think the bathroom will be anything fancy."

"The point is it's a bathroom." she replies, putting the cooking book down on the table. We head out of the kitchen, then up the closest flight of stone stairs. This whole room, floor to ceiling, must be around 60 or so feet tall...it feels like it. As the stairway finally reaches the back glass wall, it turns to the left, then continues to go up a small amount, ending at a hallway going back the opposite way of the giant glass wall itself. At the end of the hall, there's a single wooden door directly in front of us, and another to the left. We check out the bathroom first, as Weiss quickly opens the door and steps inside...she's so stunned by whatever she sees she's stuck frozen stiff in the middle of the doorway. "Hey!" I ask, jumping to look over her shoulder "Lemme see! Let us see too!"

Weiss doesn't even respond, slowly walking into the bathroom. Like the rest of the house, the bathroom has a stone floor: but this one is a little more ornate...there's also a modern sink, a mirror cabinet above it, a modern toilet, a large white bath tub...and what Weiss is walking towards in a trance. A tall, clear, glass steam shower. There's a wand that controls several of the shower's functions, as well as dispenses water itself. The steam shower has multiple holes up top for a rain-like shower method, as well as all these other little gizmos...Weiss is still in a trance as she observes every inch of this impressive bathroom marvel. Yang looks around the bathroom and scoffs. "Dang...I guess...when you get to the point...you can just flip it and say 'forget vive le wild'...and to be honest...I'm liking the looks of this much more."

"Earth to Weiss?" Blake asks Weiss. Weiss blinks a few times, then turns back to us, an empathetic smile on her face "Heh...sorry. It's just...I really want to use this thing..."

"So we can see." Blake says with a smile. Prying Weiss away from the bathroom, we then head into the "master's quarters", which I assume is just the bedroom. Upon opening this third pair of wooden double doors, it's not "just a bedroom". In front and to the left is another stone fireplace, and in front of that there's another wooden table, black leather couch, end table, and designer chair. Seriously, those couches look big enough to fit all four of us in one go. Yet, on this cylindrical end table, there's also a small, ornate glass statue that resembles a flame. It's a light blue in color, semitransparent, and sparkles in the light. Over on the opposite side of the room in the corner, there's a bookcase, desk, and rolling chair...in the corner closest to us on our right, however, there's the best part. There's a closet, and then two metal-framed modern bunk beds, a nightstand with a lamp between them: all of which rest upon a large, colorful carpet. We slowly walk over to the beds to examine them. Yang looks down at the bottom bed on our right, and slowly, reaches out with her right hand to touch the mattress. The minute her fingertips touch the bed's sheets, her eyes widen, and she completely collapses onto the bed. "Ohfmhaghod, thipfh ipfh thfa hpmrhyhts hmed iph hefpha pheflt" she mumbles into the mattress. "What was that?" I ask with a smile on my face. Yang lifts her head "Oh my god, this is the comfiest bed I've ever felt." she says, before smashing her face back into the bed. I turn around and climb into the top bunk of the other bed...immediately I feel what Yang feels. The sheets and mattress are incredibly comfy, and the pillows... "These...these are clouds. Not beds." I say, plopping into what I now declare my bed. "This is mine. MINE!"

"Then I guess, like usual, I have the one under yours." Weiss says, sitting on the bed under mine, and running her hands across the bed sheets. "The thread count on these things are...incredible. Reminds me of the bed I had back home."

"Home comfort overload!" Yang says, rolling onto her back, fully on her bed by now. She sees Blake, who stands smiling, and motions for her to come closer, then points to the bed up top. "Come, be victims of the comfort of the beds with us."

"In a sec." Blake says, shaking her head, and then going over to the book case, and beginning to browse the selection of books. "I guess we can make use of the situation. Weiss, go enjoy that steam shower. I think we all want a piece of it before we start wrapping up the day. The rest of us will chill out in here as we wait for our turn."

"Alright then." Weiss says standing "There were a few towels and stuff in there...soap and toothbrushes too...guess i'll just shower for now, then do the rest later tonight. You can use the shower after me, ok, Ruby?"

"Ok." I say, as Weiss begins heading out the room. Just as she get to the door, I remember something. "Oh!" I say, frantically sitting up onto my knees "I almost forgot!"

"Forgot what?" Weiss asks, pausing and looking back.

"Eggy!" I say, reaching into my inventory and pulling out the egg from earlier, holding it carefully in both hands. The others seem to have actually, completely forgotten them. "Dang, nice call sis." Yang says, as they all take out their eggs carefully. "I guess you're right on that regard. Glad we stored 'em away in there..."

"It was a nice idea." Blake says, carefully holding hers as she walks over to Yang's bed. "At least they weren't hurt or left for the elements all this time."

"Hmm...Hey Ruby?" Weiss asks me. I turn to her "What's up?" I ask.

"Think you can watch my egg for me while I go clean up?"

"Sure!" I say happily. "Though...who's gonna watch mine when it's my turn?"

"I'll do it." Blake volunteers, to which I thank her for. Weiss walks back over, and hands me her egg, before leaving back out of the room to enjoy her shower. Blake slowly, carefully climbs into the top of bunk above Yang and begins to read her book, with the egg resting on her stomach.

I've taken my shower by now, and have now changed into my cloth clothes. I'm on my stomach, under the covers of my bed. Slowly, I lift my head up and look out onto the top of my bed, with only the top half of my head visible. I'm staring intently at two eggs resting on a nest of pillows that I've made, fascinated by them, and expecting them to hatch at any given moment. After a few more moments, an arm reaches in and carefully picks up it's rightful egg. "Thank you for doing that." Blake says, taking her egg off my bed. "No biggie." I say, fascinated still by the egg. I carefully reach my right arm out, cupping the egg in my hand, then righting myself, emerging from the covers. Yang's on her back, half-asleep, with her egg on her stomach. Weiss has been going through A.L's receipe book for a while, as Blake takes her egg back, sits in a nearby chair, and continues to read her book, with her egg nearby. As I hold my egg in my hands, I adjust my stance, sitting on my bed with my legs criss-crossed. I look around the room from this vantage point and notice something...atop the mantle of the fireplace, another note. "Hey." I say, pointing "there's a note on top of the fireplace."

"I'm closest, I'll get it." Blake says, putting a marker in her book and moving over to the fireplace. She reaches up, feeling around the top of the mantle, before finally finding the note. She unfolds the note and begins to read it aloud.

" _As I stated earlier, welcome home. This is my favorite room in the house, for obvious reasons. When there are days I can just...well, with this house I made with my friends...it's...It allows me to live as close a life as I could back home. That's...that's why I want to give this to you, so you..can live easier, and be reminded of your life back home. The calmer you are...the more you accept this new life as your true, new life...the easier it is. You probably didn't catch my name in my first note, I hurried, which effected my writing style. My name is Annie Leonhardt, back home, I was a soldier in the military. Trust me...my training didn't help in the slightest on this island...yet, if i'm anything, it's a fighter. I adapted to this island quickly...my first tame was a very strong Dimorphodon who's coloration and wings made her look like fire, so I named her Cinder...she and the dilo I tamed, Drenn, were my allies for quite some time...see, Cragg's Island at first wasn't the safest area. There were a lot of aggressive tribes which were the epitome of human evil and stupidity. Lemme give you a scenario. A female survivor is ending her first day with her pets by the fire. She's only got cloth armor and a bow, a few spears. In comes a troop of assanine men riding two carnos and four allosaurus, with flak-metal armor and chitin armor, wielding automated rifles. Guess you could quickly figure out what those men want to do to that female survivor. What do you think happens?...wrong. The female survivor slaughters them and their mounts. I'm not just strong: i'm smart. Once I took one of their rifles, it was game over for them. I ended up using the hide from their animals and the meat to tame up a rouge allosaur of theirs. It was the process of breeding their most prime specimens...and it wasn't tame at all, so they let it go to die... yet, just looking into that thing's eyes... it seemed to know I was different. I think I was the only person on the island to passively tame an Allosaurus...she's a strong girl, too. I named her Jinouga, which has roots in words that mean "conqueror" or "usurper". That's exactly what we did. I took the most prestine of the Allosaur saddles I had obtained, then used some wood and leather, and made her a primitive set of battle armor...there wasn't a single just soul on this island that I found...so I conquered the entire island using Jinouga, Drenn, and Cinder. Just as I was about to tear down the last village...i found somebody. A boy, a little boy...around 8 or so years old. He'd been abused by the tribes on the island, and...well, i'm not just a soldier. I'm a normal person with a heart, as well...i took him in and raised him. As I went along on Cragg's island, more villains came...more villains died. People began to learn of me over time. People came to the island asking for refuge. I wouldn't keep them in my own compound, but those who truly just wanted to live a life of relative solitude and peace, I allowed on my island. Once, many months later, on the back of Glavenus, my main secondary mount, I found a lone survivor on the beach. After speaking with him, he had apparently walked many miles...and been countlessly attacked by people, whom he killed instead. He had been turned down again and again for solitude...and I realised: he was a monk of a religious dynasty thousands of years past. That explained his accent, and struggling grasp on common language. Learning of his experiences...troubled me, and I offered him what he had been searching for, upon telling him that, sadly, returning home is impossible...he's been with me ever since._

 _Fast forwards to the ARK Armageddon. My friend firmly believes that there is something special about me. He says that, for some reason, somehow, I must find a way to survive this. Just because I've singlehandedly risen to probably be the most powerful person on the ARK actually doesn't mean too much to me. I'm just doing what I can to survive. Regardless... for some reason, I agree with him. I know the Observers, they're not actually a bad race. They...they're just like us. I wanted Cragg's Island to be a place of solitude and peace for like-minded individuals. That's what it has become, but...now, I grow wary. I'm taking my friend's advice. I'm entrusting all of my animals, and the island, to him. As for myself...I have an idea. I'm taking myself, Cinder, Jinouga, and Glavenus...we're going to the Red Obelisk. There's a function nobody's lived to try, before... "Upload Survivor Data"...I don't know what will happen to me...but I feel this is my closest bet to surviving ARK Armageddon. Something in my heart...tells me that you, who read this...are like-minded individuals. I... I know we'll get along fine. If this...does work as i'm thinking it works, I'll...upload myself to the ARK. If it works...well, as I said, I have no clue what will happen...but, I feel that...well, I'll get to see you in person. I can't wait for that._

 _Regardless, I can't stick around any longer. One of the larger, hostile tribes is going to be storming Cragg's Island within the next two hours. If I leave, I've got to leave now._

 _See you soon._

 _-Annie Leonhardt"_

"...Annie sounds really nice." I say, breaking the silence. "She...wouldn't tolerate evil."

"She'd make a good huntress." Blake says, folding the note, putting it into a drawer, then going back to her seat "They way she refused to allow corruption and vile behavior on Cragg's Island...no wonder she was a champion. She was a champion for good."

"She didn't want any bad guys trying to tear up her peace that she worked so hard to earn." Yang replies. "Yet...I wonder how. I bet there's more to Annie than what we've heard of. She probably had something that helped keep her island safe. She's smart and strong...not to forget, pretty badass and...well, like Blake probably meant...very valorous. If somebody were to enforce and insure peace on the island, it would be her, from the sound of it."

"I hope it worked out for her." Weiss replies "Somehow...she manages to get back to the ARK. She sounds like such a nice person. It would be great to have her actually, physically, here with us."

"Who's to say she isn't in spirit?" I say, carefully putting my egg back onto my pillow beside me a moment. "I feel like she is. This is her house, her home, her island...and she's entrusted it all to us. We've got the training to continue her legacy."

"Offer solitude and peace for those who need it." Blake says, to which we all nod. I look into my inventory...there's a spot for tribe managing. I choose that tab, and it brings up all the people who are in my "tribe", "Team RWBY". It's just the four of us...yet, there's a spot where I could add someone else in by their name. I look around at the others, and they've gone back to doing what they were originally doing. I enter in a name into the available blank space: "Annie Leonhardt". With a push of another button, the name is registered into the tribe...maybe that means she's still out there somewhere. I roll onto my stomach, lower legs bent up into the air, and smile as I rest my chin on my hands, casually kicking my feet as I watch my egg. Yang's just about to go back to sleep again, putting her hat back over her face, when she quickly looks around, then down at her stomach. "...wait..." she says, then lifting her egg of her stomach carefully. "What?" I ask. Yang listens to her egg carefully, a look of... some sort of silencing awe on her face. She carefully lays the egg next to her...and now I know why. My own egg shakes a little on my bed, and I hear what sounds like a noise from inside the egg...it's hatching! Quickly, I spring up onto my knees with my hands covering my mouth in nervous excitement. Blake and Weiss slowly close their books, their attention drawn to their own eggs. My egg moves a little more, before it begins to visibly crack. Slowly, shard of the top of the egg starts to move, before it slowly lifts off the rest of the eggshell. Carefully, gingerly, I slowly reach out with my right hand, and grab the little eggshell. Something underneath is calling out in adorable little noises. I remove the eggshell and come face-to-face with a bright red, oval-shaped head looking up at me. It's mouth is full of sharp, peg-like teeth. I want to squeal in sight of this adorable little thing, but i'm just awed silent. It continues to look up at me, making adorable little baby animal noises as it rocks the egg forwards, hatching out of it, and shuffling towards me. It's a small, fuzzy pterosaur with a long tail, ending in a diamond shape. Mine is a little female, predominantly a bright red, with some darker red on her. Weiss's egg hatches an actual albino female. Blake gets the exact opposite, as a little black female pops out of her egg. Yang ends up staring face-to face with a tan-colored male. I slowly lay onto my side, back onto my bed, looking at the little pterosaur. "Hi..." I say in a low, maternal tone to the little girl who's watching my every move with intent. "Hi there little cute girl..." I slowly reach out to the little "Dimorphodon", and pet the top of her head gently. She cuddles right up next to my hand, rubbing against it...as far as she's concerned, I'm her mom. I slowly take a piece of raw meat from my inventory, a tiny little piece, and hold it out to her in my other hand. She takes a moment, then starts to eat it. I smile warmly "Look at 'em." I say low "They're soo cute."

"I guess taking in the eggs really was the right thing..." Weiss says, leaning sideways onto her table, her Dimorphodon nuzzling it's muzzle against her nose, as she pets it's back lightly. "This little girl's Snowren." she states, feeding her little baby dimorph. Blake carefully holds hers in her arms, petting it's back, as it nestles comfortably in her grasp, like a baby. "...Her name's Raven." she states "My little Raven...you're in hog heaven, aren't you?"she says, scratching the Dimorph under it's tiny chin, and it mumbles in pleasure of being loved on. Yang's now resting with her dimorphodon on her chest. "My little guy here is Sparrow." she says, carefully feeding him and softly petting his head with her finger. "Sticking with the bird names due to color. Why did I get the only boy?..."

"Because you're a tomboy." Weiss says. Yang smiles "darn right about that. Guess we're moms now."

"I guess so...isn't that right, Robin?" I ask my little dimorphodon. "Do you love your new mommy? Hm?"

Robin shuffles over to the top of my chest, near the base of my neck, and starts making little baby animal noises as she brushes up against me. I carefully, loosely embrace the little thing. "Mommy loves you too, little girl...shh...mommy loves you."

"Heh...never thought I'd actually be a mom, to be honest." Weiss said "But...at least this is good practice, right?"

" 'Bout as close as it will ever come unless the dude of your dreams shows up on the ARK." Yang says. "And if that happens...i just might fight you for him."

"Please, let's not kill ourselves over guys." I say, to which the others laugh.

"I guess not." Weiss says, petting her baby dimorph more. I let little Robin climb onto my shoulder. "Well...guess i'm going downstairs for a moment."

"Why's that?" Blake asks.

"There's a pencil and some paper in the drawers downstairs. I'd like to set in the kitchen and start drawing designs for my weapon, and you three's, as well."

"That's nice of you, sis." Yang says. "I think we'll all be chilling out up here. Especially me." she says, looking down at Sparrow, who happily sleeps atop his new mother. Weiss smiles "Alright. Do me a favor, and make sure there's wood in the stove for me?"

"Sure." I say, stepping off the top bed and landing on the floor, then heading out the room. Once downstairs, I set Robin and my paper and pencil on the table. Robin watches me intently as I go over to the stove, and check it's inventory. No wood. I go over to the fireplace, and see it has copious amounts of it. I take a few extra pieces from it, and move that into the stove, before lighting the fire in the fireplace, and sitting down on the table. I feed Robin another piece of meat, and she leaps up onto my shoulder, then climbs up into my hair, laying down on the top of my head. "Hey, you." I say, carefully petting her back. "You're welcome to do that cause it's cute, and you're cute and all...but I know your little baby bodies. Don't go potty in my hair."

Robin seems to give a little response back to me, which I interpret as "I won't, mommy.". That done, I look down onto my paper and begin to sketch out my ideas. First, my weapon...then I move on to Weiss's, then Blake's, and finally Yang's. Several minutes, probably more than a half hour has passed, and i'm going over my sketches of my special scythe again. Just then, I hear footsteps, which stop at the open doors of the kitchen. I look up and turn, only to see Blake smiling, using her crutch, with little Raven on her shoulder. "Hey, Ruby." She says "Took me a minute, but...thought I'd live up to my promises. Feel like talking?"

"I always feel like talking." I say with a smile, nodding. Blake makes her way in to the kitchen, and sits in the table across from me. Robin and Raven note each other, and leap down off of Blake and I. They sniff each other for a moment...and then, once they seem to realize they're siblings, they chase each other around for a moment on the table. We smile at this, before Robin and Raven nuzzle up next to each other on a corner of the table, and curl up, beginning to sleep. Blake and I look into each others eyes a moment, and then i'm the first to speak.

"So, how's your leg?" I ask. Blake smiles, her crutch leaning beside her, on the table. "Getting stronger. Hopefully I won't need this crutch for longer."

"That's good." I say "I know you, Blake. You're a strong girl. You've been through a lot, and it's made you pretty strong."

"Heh...I'd say the same for you." she replies. "I guess trials make good people...better."

"I'd say they do." I say, taking a moment to sketch my weapon more. Blake looks at my sketching a moment, then up at me. "Didn't know you could draw." she states.

"Anything that's a weapon, anyway." I reply. "I try to draw anything else, and...kidscratch."

"Kidscratch?"

"Not the best in the world. I like to doodle, but I guess it's a just a little childish habit."

"I'm sure every child loved to draw when they were young. It's a common trait of a child to express themselves and be creative."

"I bet. So what's that book you've found about?"

"It's an interesting concept. It's about this scientist in the 1900s who builds a time machine and travels thousands of years into the future, where mankind has evolved into two separate races, based on their social status. The upper class evolves into this beautiful, short, blissful race that spends their time playing, and doing all sorts of blissful little things in their life of paradise, oblivious to anything. The working class, however, evolved into a pale-colored, short, stocky, subterranean race which still seems to do work for the other race without knowing it...but at the cost of taking members of the upper-class race during the night, and cannibalizing them."

"that...sounds like some sort of social experiment, if you know what I mean." I note.

"Yes, as if the author was trying to make a social class statement. To be honest, I'm enjoying it, and it's turning out to be quite interesting."

"Sounds like it, minus the albino cannibal part."

"True."

Soon, there's more silence from the both of us, when Blake looks at my sketches again.

"Your scythe?" she asks.

"Yeah. I'm calling it Ancient Rose...mind being a second opinion on all these designs?"

"Well, i'm no weapon expert...but sure. Anything to help."

"Well, granted I'll be able to make a smithy soon, once we have the materials, i'm limited to what I can make from that...so I've learned a few smithy-exclusive engrams, such as the longneck rifle." I say, sliding my drawing towards her a little bit, as she looks at it. "unfortunately, it's not going to be as long as Crescent Rose, but...It'll still pack a punch. The Blade here is supported and rooted in those therizinosaur claws, and the smaller ones splitting from the main blade are from the severed claws. The barrel here, which also doubles as the staff of the weapon folds twice, since something like our actual weapons would require pretty advanced customization and fabrication...see, I learned there's also tranq darts, as well...so I've got two different ammo feeds. A spring-chamber here for inserting rifle ammo clips that I think can hold about 8 shots...then this feed here for single-shot darts. The zoom scope shouldn't be hard to make, either..."

"Knowing you." Blake says with a smile. "You'll easily figure it out. Could I possibly see what you have planned for me?"

"This right here..." I say, taking my schematics for my weapon back, and showing her another blueprint "Is what I have planned for you, granted the materials i'll be able to use as of this moment." On it are the designs of a pair of dual-wielding revolvers, the clips of which hold about ten shots each. A blade lies on the top of the barrel on a small track, and a smaller one, that's positioned further up, lies on the gun's underside. "This is what I can offer." I say "What do you think?"

Blake takes the paper from me, once again, and goes over it. "So...the handles fold back?" she asks, skimming over my drawing.

"yeah." I reply "To make it able to be wielded similarly to a sword. That's when the top blade slides forwards and extends, making it more like twin knives or short swords, if anything."

"I guess granted smithy practicality, Gambol Shroud isn't exactly a possibility."

"Sadly, no. Giving you both the functions of blade as well as pistol isn't exactly the easiest of things..."

"Well, both of my weapons aren't pistols, you know."

"I know. It's just granted length of the gun and stuff...pfft...i can only offer dual knife-pistols as of now. Think they're good enough for you?"

Blake goes over the schematics again, smiling "Don't get me wrong, Ruby...these are incredible and I am truly grateful that you're doing this for me. I'm sorry if I came off a little...harsh or something."

"It's ok." I say with a smile.

"In regards to me being able to wield these things...definitely. It's shorter than how i'd like them, but that should be no issue in the end. You tried your best to give me functionality and adaptability. I can't ask for more. Thank you."

"Heh, it's nothing."

"What have you got planned for Weiss?" she asks me, and I pull out my drawings "Well..believe it or not, I think I can do some kind of rapier. I also managed to figure out a phial system, using the handle as a storage compartment...there's a small opening above the blade that coats it in whatever kind of phial she'd prefer to use."

"What types of phials have you thought of?"

"Only three as of now. I've got one that is a cementing paste and sparkpowder blend, and the other a cementing paste and gunpowder blend. Both of their effects are triggered by the friction of the blade impacting whatever she's fighting, as both materials respond to the heat. Sparkpowder blend will, in theory, light the inflicted on fire. Gunpowder causes satisfying explosions."

"Sounds useful...and from what I see here, the third requires a completely new blade?..."

"Yeah, the blade hilt unscrew off with the barrel and can be replaced with an injection edge, for use with the Narcotic phial...turns her whole weapon into a giant syringe."

"That'll come in handy." Blake notes. "And Yang?"

"Pfft..." I say, pulling out Yang's weapon designs. "It was easy figuring out the melee part of it all for her. Metal-reinforced-chitin gauntlets with studded spikes here on the knuckles. On the part that's over the arms, there's twin claws that slide out and extend over the top of her hands."

Blake chuckles "My god...if Yang doesn't drop a Wolverine reference."

"She might as well be 'Yangverine', actually."

"Why...did you do that?..." Blake says, burying her face in her hands, chuckling. I giggle "Hey, it's what Yang probably will call herself."

"Let Yang be the one to drop the horrible puns, please." Blake jests. "But from what I can see here, there's no gun functionality?"

"Again, Shotguns are smithy-level functionality. Shotgun-gauntlets? Not exactly...but I remembered something I read in a book and it gave me an idea. Blake, have you ever read The Brotherhood of Macedonia?"

Blake pauses a moment and thinks, then suddenly remembers. "Yes, actually. About that brotherhood of assassins. Why?"

"Well, those disguised guns they'd have on the underside of their arms? I've been able to do something similar. A single barrel on top and on the underside of each gauntlet, able to only hold one simple pistol bullet at a time...yet, with the mechanism I've got in place, it'll fire it with the force, power, and accuracy of a longneck rifle. Four hidden hand-cannons for my sister."

"She'll love that, despite the fact she'll have to take a moment to aim her shots. Either way...i feel like you've outdone yourself on these."

"Thanks." I say smiling, and gathering all my papers. "So. What else is up?" I ask her. Blake rubs the back of her head "...Well...actually, I...don't know. So much for me wanting to have a 'nice long talk'."

"Aw, come on!" I say "Ask me anything! Really! Tell me anything!"

"Well...alright. Think you'll ever grow out of being childish?" she jokes.

"Nope."

"Didn't think so."

"'Cmon! Do better than that!"

"Hmm...you ask me something."

"Ok. Are you really afraid of dogs?"

"... I have the right to remain silent."

"Oh boy."

"Well...i don't mind Zwei, at least."

"I can understand that easily. You were around him enough. It's...kinda funny how cat-like you are, to be honest."

"Well, I guess that's just a side-effect of being a Faunus, perhaps..."

"Do I need to go through the list?"

"Nope."

"Fair enough. I gotta say though, Blake. It makes you fun to be around...and then sometimes you're just fun to be around normally, too."

"As long as I have those I can confide in, I'll always be joyous."

"Blake, I understand how and why you're so secluded for the most part...but let me ask you. Having been through everything you have with us, including on the ARK...do you still think we'd beat you down?"

"Absolutely not." Blake says with a warm smile. "I...I'm learning who the four of us really are, together. We all are... and, to be honest... I wouldn't want to be stuck on this island without you three. I'm holding on because of you...you're more than team mates and friends to me, now...you're extended family. As you told me that I can't do anything wrong in your eyes...you all can't do anything wrong in my eyes."

"Thanks, Blake." I say, smiling back at her. Then, I look at a blank piece of paper. "Say hey, Blake. Have you ever played Squares?"

"No, what's that?" she asks.

I take out a piece of paper and begin to draw small dots along it. "It's an annoying little game that's kinda fun, too." I say, drawing a 28 by 28 grid of dots in a square shape. "You take turns connecting dots with lines. Each time you make a square, it's one point for you, and you get an extra turn."

"So try and get as many squares as you can?"

"Yep. Wanna try?"

"Sure." she says warmly. "Sounds fun."

So with that, Blake and I begin our game as we socialize, care for our dimorphs, and bond further. I...I definitely agree with Blake. If I were stuck with a group of people on the island...I would want it to be anybody other than my team – my closest friends. It's beyond a doubt in my mind, too...that feeling is mutual among all of us. We've got one heck of an interesting adventure and new life ahead of us, as we take over Annie's Legacy, and become masters, and champions of the ARK.


	13. Survivor Note 2

Day I

So this is how fate treats those who work towards what is theirs. Despite my efforts, I've found myself awakening, unclothed, on a strange island's northern shores. There are primeval creatures roaming the land, to my surprise. I can quickly access I'm no longer in Vale...possibly not in Remnant, anymore, either, granted the strange, towering metal structures I see. The plant life on the island is also strange... it appears as if some of them were deliberately placed so that I might find them and use them. It seems as if this is more than just a reserve of prehistoric animals...but also, a testing ground... it's as if some race, or somebody... doubts my power and aptitude. Doubts my competence... how dare they. I have no more authority above me. With my own strength, my own will, my own orders...by my own might, this island will be mine. Mine, and mine alone. I've gotten what I need to help myself stand on my own feet better: mainly a few tools and some clothing. Granted, my usual methods of doing things...aren't at their usual level of performance now, but they still come in handy quite easily. I haven't found an exact place suitable for setting up, yet...but I'll know what I'm looking for when I find it. Somewhere truly beneficial...somewhere hospitable, where I don't need to worry about being interrupted. If I must, then I will create such a place, myself.

Day IV

I have found my new home, much to my delight. After walking along the coast for days, I finally walked into the forest, and after a truly breathtaking trek through the forest, I have found my hidden jewel. These past few days on my journey, many foolhardy creatures have tried to kill me, and devour me. I killed them. I devoured them. Nobody threatens my life and doubts MY power. Setting up in my new home by myself has been tedious...until I met my new partner. I was at the base of a nearby mountain, washing myself in a stream, when he came along. Quite the colossal, and imposing creature. Quite powerful, as well. He slaughtered everything in his way, sometimes not even stopping to devour them. When he saw me, he thought he could easily crush me...not quite, my saurian friend. He learned the hard way what happens if you try and oppose me. Yet, his anger, and his power...I could respect that. So, I gave him a choice to either die, or learn to get along with me. Despite being an animal, I can tell he's quite smart...he begrudgingly got up and started following me ever since. He knows his place. Despite his anger, he won't dare take it out on me. I've named my new friend "Tyrant", due to his behavior. I've used him as both a mount, despite having no saddle, and a work animal. I can't do all the heavy lifting by myself, can I? Tyrant seems to be getting along with me easier. He seems to see eye-to-eye with me now out of respect. I must say, the feeling is mutual, between my powerful Tyrant, and myself. He makes a better partner than my former ones...and I know I don't have to question his loyalty, anymore. It's a pleasant surprise that something like him has caught on so quickly, no insult to him, of course. I dare say that Tyrant has the loyalty of a devoted child to his mother- that figure being me, of course. I don't think it's out of fear, anymore, as he seems to like my leadership. It's humorous, how something like him can understand and value cooperation more than men...

Regardless, I now have a firm hold on the island, thanks to my partner. There's more to be done. More new allies to amass, more structures to build...more hunting to be done. He and I will be heading back into the mountains soon for stone and metal. Until then, there's the little amounts of work to be accomplished here, as we prepare. I wonder if i'll be the only one on this island for long. Regardless if I will be or not...this is _**MY**_ island. Nobody else will dare challenge my authority and power. All who do will surely die at my feet.


	14. Chapter 11

There are jeers and chortles of vicious animals as I dash through the forest atop Ember at blinding speed. The calls are coming from behind us, and aren't far behind. We're being pursued intently, as Ember leaps and dodges to avoid obstructions to our path. Our pursuers are chasing us down just as easily, not far behind us. Finally, a clearing comes into view, as Ember and I burst out of the forest, entering into an open plain. The same slope that, If we were to go up and to the left, would lead back home...and we stop. The chortles and shrill cries get closer and closer, until suddenly, four large raptors, not Utahraptors, burst from the foliage...and stand alongside Ember and I. They're Deinonychus, and my personal hunting companions. It's been a full month since we first arrived on ARK, and things have changed drastically. I found these four as we attempted to build a bridge across the shallower parts of the channel. Ever since I tamed them, Yang's been calling them my "Raptor Squad". There's two males, Echo and Charlie; and two females, Delta and Blue. They get along with me and the others easily, yet what I loved about them was their intelligence, which seemed to put even that of the Troodons to shame: that was what I loved about them the most, being able to help problem-solve in the middle of a hunt. The four of them are incredibly devoted to me, similar to Ember. The Deinonychus chortle back and forth between each other, hissing and snapping at each other as they communicate. I'm scanning the area with my spyglass...nothing. Delta and Charlie seem to get into a bit of an altercation, then I quickly give off a short whistle that gets their attention again. My outfit has changed, as well. Recently we've got enough leftover metal for armor, so I've got on flak armor leggings and gauntlets, but a chitin chest piece, still. It's actually not as bad as I thought it would be, and I should be able to finally hammer out our full armor soon enough. Attached to my back is my brand new lifeline...Ancient Rose, in it's full glory. It had been a painstaking process to make it, yet, now it was an actual, tangible reality. The blade's not exactly the same size, nor is the general weapon size, the same as Crescent Rose...it's probably at least 3/4ths the scale, but it works wonderfully. I look up into the sky...sure enough I can spot something circling in the sky just ahead...Robin, now grown to adulthood. She's found what we're looking for. I give a whistle and Ember dashes off, with my Deinonychus in hot pursuit after us. We're hunting today, with big game in mind. VERY big game. It takes a few minutes as we dash towards where Robin sees our target. We're dashing through the coastal woods once again, and soon I see our target, and I give a hushed whistle to my raptors as we stop our quick advance. Several hundred feet away, walking along the semi-barren beach, is a large, four-legged animal of a pale brown color. It's skin is thick, and it's head rests atop a long neck. A Paraceratherium, I heard Blake call it. From what we had gleaned through Annie's various journals around the house, Paracers are excellent work animals, commonly found in swamps, and plains. Once, apparently, they could indeed be found on Cragg's Island, but migrated away from there over time. We assumed this one wandered down from the distant swamps in the near north. We scouted it out once, to assess it's level, but sadly, it was only level 17, not a good tame...but plenty of meat to last us a great while. Slowly my Deinonychus break away from Ember and I, as they slowly approach from the rear. The Paracer is oblivious to us, as it begins browsing from palm trees...now we're at the ideal distance for our attack. Slowly, I get off of Ember, and then...I give the whistle to attack. With a screech, Blue and Charlie burst from bushes behind the Paracer and jump right onto it's back legs, latching hold and slashing apart it's back legs. The Paracer immediately reacts, beginning to kick with it's back legs, attempting to throw off those attacking it's rear flanks. Then Delta and Charlie attack from the sides, latching hold and attacking. Ember is the last one on the Paracer as all of them begin trying to tear it apart. The Paracer begins to groan and thrash about wildly, trying to shake of any of my attacking raptors. I take Ancient Rose off of my back and fold it out into it's full form. I stab the blade of the scythe into the ground and aim for the creature's body. Looking down my scope, I pull the trigger, and instantly there's a loud bang as the Paracer shifts to one side, then starts charging me with surprising speed. I managed to get a shot into it's upper left flank, and it's not too happy as it bares down on me. It rears up at me, intent on crushing me under it's weight, but I rip Ancient Rose from the earth and fly underneath it in a slash, tearing a huge hole in it's stomach. It buckles onto one knee at this, attempting to stand back up and shake off the raptors...but that's not what I've got planned. Once again, I turn around, slamming the blade of Ancient Rose into the earth, and aim my scope to the paracer's head. Finally, I give off the shot that puts the creature out if it's misery, as it gives a low groan and slumps to the side. I'm not surprised the hunt went so well, with how perfect Ancient Rose came out, as well as the training of my raptors. The raptors have now began to eat the carcass in order to harvest it. I might as well do the same. I walk over next to Ember, and pet her a moment as she eats, before taking out my metal hatchet and metal pickax, and begin to gather some meat, myself. It's no surprise as I myself start getting a little bloody...which soon turns into getting very bloody, from all of the blood in this colossal corpse. It takes us several minutes to harvest about 90% of the viable meat on the carcass, leaving some organs, and bones covered in thin strips of meat. I'm washing my hands in the nearby ocean when I hear a noise coming from the forest, and I stand, turning towards the forest again. What stands at the edge of the forest looks like a Carno, although a slight bit smaller, yet stockier, and of a black color. He's a level 23 male Rugops who lives on the Island; and the others and I have met him before, when he tried muscling in on a freshly killed Parasaur of ours, during one of our hunting trips. He's not actually aggressive, he's just more of a scavenger. We kinda liked him back then, and still do, so we actually let him have the whole parasaur, and only went home ourselves with two kills instead of three. Ever since, he seems to find us friendly, and knows that whenever we kill something, after we get our fair share, he can have the rest. He stands alert, looking at the raptors and I as we wash up in the beach, curious to see if we're done, eagerly awaiting his turn. I smile, and give a whistle, as if to tell him "go on ahead". Carrion, as we've called him, moves over to the rest of the Paracer remains and begins to eat his fill. I saddle back up on Ember and whistle for my Deinonychus to follow, which they do. We head back up the coast, then along the channel at the north of Cragg's Island. After following our river back a ways, I'm greeted with a familiar sight: Blake fishing in the river with White, as well as a tamed and saddled Bari. Yang sits on the ground, her back resting upon Bari, who lies on the ground, gnawing on a large Coelocanth in her jaws. White does similar, but occasionally looks up at Blake, who sits with a makeshift rod and reel in her hands, carefully watching the line. Raven, fully grown, perches on Blake's shoulder, eyeing the line in the water. The raptors and I calmly walk up to her, and I smile "hey there, Blake." I say. She smiles, looking at me for a moment, before looking back out on her line "Hey Ruby. I guess you finished the Paracer hunt early?"

"Yep." I say smiling "My guys are doing pretty well at this."

"You've trained the Deinonychus very well, Ruby." she says, drawing in the line a little. "Congratulations on that."

"It's nothing. So did you take a break from the usual fishing method?"

"Yeah. After a bit of spearfishing and the like with Bari and White, I cooked our catches, and then decided to do a little bit of calmer fishing to pass the time."

"How's that been?"

"Relaxing. A few nibbles here and there, but...!" suddenly, there's a sharp tug on Blake's line. Blake immediately starts reeling in something that's putting up a decent fight. Lo and behold, it's another decently-sized Coelocanth which she catches on the end of the line. As she reels it in on the ground, Bari raises her arm and sinks her large thumb claw into the fish, instantly killing it, before letting go. Blake sighs "Thank you, Bari" she says with a bit of strange empathy, holding her catch at the end of the line. "I think I'll stick around and cook this a moment, alright?"

"Sure. See you up at the house in a sec."

I give another whistle to my raptors, and they follow me and Ember again as we dash up towards our home, which has changed quite a bit since we first arrived...heh, we took Annie's advice. With the help of Gamuto and Petra, we now have an extensive stone wall that encircles the rock at the top of the cliff, and fences off the land at the base of the cliff, and some of the small reef-bay at the river's mouth. We've got two gates: a smaller one at the back of the rock, and a truly massive one up front, with one like it down below...every since we learned of bulk-crafting with help of the Implants, we've been going nuts with construction. I give a whistle to my raptors, giving them a command I've done before. Delta starts running ahead with Blue following her. Just as they get to the wall, which is about 25 ft tall, Delta stops a small distance from the wall and turns. Blue then leaps up on Delta, using her as a stepstool, and leaps up at a high angle, and latches onto some of the stones on the wall, and climbs over. Soon, the massive, reinforced wood-and-stone doors begin to open towards us, allowing us in. As she's done before, Blue's pulled the lever to open the behemoth gate for me. Just as we're in, she pulls it back with Charlie's help, causing the door to close. As we advance further in to a full trot, I can see my sister, with Sparrow on her shoulder. Yang's on the back of Petra, who spins around, smashing a large rock to pieces with her tail in one final strike. Gamuto and Titania stand nearby, ready to take any excess cargo. I trot up next to her on Ember, dismounting. "Hey sis! Workin' hard, right?"

"Pfft, of course. Haven't worked up a sweat like this in a while." she says, taking her hat off her head, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand, and then fanning herself with her hat. "I'll be serious, even with Petra, this gets exhausting."

"So I see. Is that the last of the rocks up here?"

"And down below." she says in a happier tone, still fanning herself, and then slowly sliding off Petra. Whereas Blake and I were dressed a little more protective because we were out, Yang's chill in her hide outfit, which she's colored to vaguely resemble her old outfit. We've all done similarly with our outfits, coloring them colors of our choice with the dyes we make. She's dirty and sweaty from working with Petra all day, smashing apart rocks. She looks up at me "hey, is Blake coming back in?"

"Yeah, she's just frying up a last catch real quick."

"Why didn't you leave the gate open for her, then?"

"Yang..." I say, with a strange, smug smile, putting my hands on my hips and tilting my head. "Do you remember the last time I tried to be nice and do that?..."

Suddenly, she remembers. "Oh...yeah, right..." she says "That trio of Carnos stormed in..."

"I'll make sure the raptors are there to flip the lever for her." I say. I turn to them, seeing Ember watching the Deinonychus, which hiss and snap at each other, socializing fairly low. I give a quick whistle "Ey!" I say, holding up my right index finger. Immediately, I've got their immediate attention. "Good...good..." I say, smiling "Wait..." I say, making sure I have their complete, focused attention, locking eyes quickly with each one once. "Now...go!" I gesture off towards the behemoth gate with my arm, making my index finger now point at it, and the raptors shriek as they dash off. Yang smiles, giving a whistle of approval and clapping her hands. "Nice, sis. You got them wrapped around your little finger."

"Ey, wasn't easy." I say, turning, but with my smile still on my face. I speak for all of us when I say our hair has grown...mine's much longer than I normally have it, but without being able to cut it for a month...that's what we get! Yang's hair is back about the length she normally has it, but it's still wild in a few parts. I brush my elongated hair out of my face "So. Wanna turn in with me for a bit?"

"It's about lunchtime, anyway...plus, being out at noon is the worst..."

"Heh, yeah. Go take yourself a nice, cold shower."

"I plan on it." she says with a chuckle, as we walk towards the house. What was once our thatch hut, we've turned into my workshop. Yes, MY workshop. It's just about doubled in size. There's wooden storage boxes a plenty inside for storing materials, a refining furnace, and a Smithy, several mortars and pestles, as well as a building X-tras constructor, and a "Xtra Ark" crafting table. We now walk up onto the porch, then open the double doors of the house. Immediately, there's something standing in our way...a Dilophosaurus! OUR Dilophosaurus, named Malachi. He showed up around our house as we were setting up the walls, and we tamed him to be a bit of a house dog. Like Ozpin, he's learned how to open and close unlocked doors, so he helps himself outside whenever he needs to go use. "Hi, Mal!" I say, crouching down, with Robin on my shoulder, as I pet the top of Malachi's head. "How ya been, huh?" He seems to chortle a bit with being loved on. Yang squeezes past and begins heading upstairs to go and take a shower. "Say hey, I think I know what you want..." I reach into my inventory, pulling out a little specialty Weiss cooked up for our smaller carnivorous pets: a single, cooked dodo neck. "Huh? You want a little something? Here ya go, boy." I say, handing it to him. He takes it happily in his mouth and proceeds to walk towards the kitchen, which is my intended destination. I close the doors behind me, and follow after him. Nearby, Ozpin rests atop a bookcase, but opens his eyes to watch Malachi and I pass. Malachi lowers his head for a moment, holding the dodo bird neck now in his right hand, before using his free mouth to turn the door handle, and open the double doors for himself and me. He puts his treat back into his mouth and continues to walk in. I follow right behind him, and immediately, I smell really good food. I look up to see Snowren fly a u-turn with something in her mouth. She flies over towards Weiss, who's cooking something in a pot on the stove. Weiss is also wearing casual hide clothing, and she's done a few things to her even longer hair. Having a bit more hair than normal, she's actually deduced the length of her very long ponytail a bit by now having two smaller, braided ones going over her shoulders. She wears earrings made from pearls and sea shells, and has a seashell necklace around her neck. Snowren lands on Weiss's shoulder, and Weiss turns her head, facing her. "Ah, thank you..." she says, taking the herbs from Snowren's mouth and carefully shredding them into whatever she's cooking. Malachi ends up laying down by the fireplace, where he begins to gnaw and crunch on the dodo bird neck I gave him. "Weiss Schnee on fire in the kitchen, folks!" I say, gesturing towards her with both arms in a smile. She looks at me for a moment, then shakes her head, going back to what she's doing. "Hah, I don't think I could stand being on a cooking show...too many eyes on me."

"Don't you sing, though?"

"Well, yeah...but even though I like to sing, doesn't mean I...well, I was kinda...forced to by my father, so..."

"Not sayin' anything, Weiss." I say with a smile. "So, what are you concocting now?"

"Dinner." she says "Making a bit of a stew to go with some of the fish Blake's going to be bringing in".

"Hey, I'm game!" I say with a smile "You've made me love food I thought I'd hate, so I'll eat just about everything you make."

"Just about everything? Why not everything?"

"Because if you make something with heart, tongue, or something, I'm OUT."

"I...don't plan on it, feeling is mutual on that."

"Ah, so, what's for Lunch?"

"Something you'll enjoy. Not spoiling anything until the others get here."

"Alright, then." I say, pulling up to my usual stool and sitting down in it. "Ya wanted that meat before it goes bad, right?"

"Ah, right!" she says, taking the spoon out of the stew she was sturing, and turning to me. "Did you have that? I bet there was a bunch of prime meat."

"There was, and I got our shares from the raptors, too..." I say, checking my inventory and bundling everything together. "Here." In my hands is yet another wrapped box, which Weiss takes, as it's put into her inventory. She then pulls up her inventory in front of the stove, placing her meat inside using the hands-free functions of the stove from the implant. I look back behind us at the fireplace...hanging above it, is the head of that vicious Primal Therizinosaurus, on a wall-mount. I look at it a few more moments, before my eyes are drawn to Blake walking in to the room, with Raven on her shoulder. "Hey Blake!" I say smiling at her. She smiles back, waving a little "Hello again. Weiss, mind if I go ahead and store that fish in the fridge before I sit down?"

"Help yourself, Blake." she says, stuiring the stew again. Blake walks over to the fridge, and begins storing the cooked fish inside, before sitting next to me on the counter. "So, did anything interesting happen while you were down there, Blake?" Weiss asks.

"Nothing too noticeable." she says "a couple herds of animals walked by. Parasaurs, Phiomia, Trikes, Stegos, even a small group of Pegomastax." she lets Raven off her shoulder, who flies over to one of four perches that we have for our dimorphodons. Robin and Snowren follow her example. "Ah, Quru came down." Blake said

"He did?" I asked

"Mm-hm. He stuck around for a little bit, probably about half an hour or so, before flying back. Bari drove off a Sarco she saw coming down from further up river, but...nothing else than that. It was pretty calm for me."

"Kinda was for me too, excluding the Paracer hunt. I always like going out into the forest...it's beautiful but...kinda...ominous, too. Even in the day."

"I second that." Blake says, adjusting her position on her stool. I begin drumming my fingers on the counter. "So...Weiss...uh...do you...have an appetizer or something for us to like...nibble on or something?"

"Trail mix, that's about it, really. Just waiting on Yang."

I sigh, taking out a bag of trail mix from my pocket. We normally have some on us each time we go out as something to snack on. Weiss has made copious amounts of this stuff, so it's ok to eat it whenever we'd like. I take a handful of seeds and dried berries, popping them into my mouth. It's salty, but still...bland. It's...It's like one of those foods you're kinda "Meh" about, but you still eat it, because you can't have just one. Blake looks at me in my depressed, food-starved state...and grins. "Ey, Ruby?"

"What?" I ask.

"I...think I can entertain you for a little bit."

I know exactly know what she's talking about. "U-uh...I...sure." I say "I...guess you...wanna do some Ninja?"

"If you'd like..."

Ninja. The game I introduced to Blake after Squares a month ago...I beat her at Squares, so, I thought i'd introduce her to Ninja. It's quite a simple game, but...also very frustrating. Players stand in a circle, and move in a set order. When it's your turn, you can either step towards or step back. When you do that, you can also move your arms, but...if you do, that's your turn. You can either move or strike, and when you strike, you try to get out a person near you by tagging their hand. If you miss or hit, you have to remain in the position you put yourself in...that's the whole point. If you're attacked, you move your arm only out of the way...it's kinda complex. I thought she'd like it because of the name and how it's played...she...destroyed me. Even when Weiss and Yang would join in...she'd obliterate us. Strangely for her, she's taken it in stride. I shudder "Blake, I...I'm just hungry because I've worked up an appetite...I...don't feel like getting my butt kicked right now."

"You were the one who said I should open up..." she says, with a bit of a malevolent chuckle, as she takes out her most recent book and begins reading. I feel a bit more comfortable with seeing her reading her book. "So, Blake?" I ask "What's that book about?"

"It's quite scandalous, actually." she says, teasing. "It's about this one man who gets framed, kicked out of his church, has the love of his life stolen by the man who framed him, and it's all about his downward spiral and how he eventually reforms himself."

"Heh, you're reading all the interesting books, Blake." I jest.

"Hey, I suggested you pick up one, yourself. Have you?"

"Yeah, I did. Twice."

"Twice? You've read two books?"

"Kinda...gave up on the first."

"Why's that?"

"It was called 'The Lost World', where these guys from, like...18th century go to this plateau in the jungle, and atop this really high plateau, there's dinosaurs. Kinda gave up when I saw it was Dinosaurs... 'cause we're in the Lost World, ourselves!"

Weiss and Blake start laughing with me on that remark. "Hey, I see your point, but I've been an assassin myself, been a rouge, but I've read books about assassins and rouges a plenty. I encourage you to pick it up where you left off."

"Hah, if that's the case."

"What about the other one?"

"That one is nifty!" I say. "It was 'Two Thousand Leagues under the Sea'!"

"Ah, read that one myself. I'd figure it's one you'd like. Did you?"

"Really nifty!...also, why did they get attacked by Giant Squids in a jungle river?"

"Because a steampunk submarine doesn't make enough sense, so you throw in giant river squids and a mysterious ocean tribe."

"Cool story, needs more Dragons." Weiss says, and we laugh again.

"In all honesty, though, did you like the book, Ruby?" Blake asks. I nod, smiling "Yep! I liked it!"

"Did you pick up another one?"

"Pfft...caught between 'The Scarlet Letter', and 'The Island of Doctor Miroue'."

"Hm, read them both myself. Scarlet Letter is another 'life lesson' book, so I don't think you'll like that. It's about adultery in a colonial timeframe..."

"Oh..." I say, somewhat disappointed. "Although...maybe i'll still read it."

"It's a good read, has a lot of symbolism in it. Give it a shot if you're interested, although it's not an adventure one."

"Is the other one something like one?"

"Eh...not really...well, adventure, yes, but it's not a fairytale story or anything of that sort...it's...well, an adventure book, about this mad scientist who makes these mad...mish-mash, nonsensical animal hybrids."

"...Well, that's...cool!" I say, sounding pretty interested "I just...miss the good 'ol fairytales I like to read."

"It's harder to find a book like that, which isn't modern." She says "If that's the case, and you're looking for heroes and that whole deal, you're looking at things like the Odyssey, which you said you read before."

"Yang read it to me, yeah. So...that's it?"

"Sadly, the good 'ol days of knights and that sort, heroes, are kind of rare. Well, in the aspect of how you'd think. Other than that...they're pretty common, in alternate forms."

"Hm?"

"Silas Marner here is his own hero, in the textbook definition of a hero in an analytical standpoint."

"How's that?"

"Well, a hero doesn't have to be somebody who goes off on a journey to find treasure or slay a dragon, kill a villain or rescue a princess. Simply put, a hero is somebody who overcomes an obstacle and gets stronger from it. It's so stereotypical in all kinds of media it's called a monomyth, last I recall."

"Wow. So...i guess, in that aspect, we're all heroes! Especially since we've done so well so far on the ARK!"

"Well, in literal terms, yes."

"Although we've only stuck to Cragg's Island." Weiss says. "There will probably be a time where we have to leave the island for reasons, Ruby, such as gathering resources. Then, maybe, we may not be alone after all, soon...and our company may not be too nice, and may want to take our island, and...well, do whatever they want to us. Sorry to be the pessimist, but..."

"You're not!" I say, smiling. "You're...just trying to be a realist! I'm not saying I don't worry, it's just...I'm happy and grateful I finally feel comfortable here."

"Again, I can second you on that." Blake says, smiling. "ARK does indeed feel like home, doesn't it?"

"When you've got your friends, and you work hard, you can make anywhere home!" I say smiling "We did with our dorm, didn't we?"

"Heh," Weiss says, grinning, with a bit of a chuckle "Those bunk beds were a miracle of high school engineering."

"They were probably the most makeshift makeshift bunk beds I've ever seen or made!" I say, to which we all laugh.

"I'm not going to lie, Ruby." Weiss states. "When we first made our bunk bed...I swore that's how I might kick the bucket."

"Aww 'cmon! Enough rope fixes everything!"

"Riiight...seriously, I think I stared wide-eyed at your bed watching it sway directly above me for like...and hour or so the first time I slept under it."

"Her bed wasn't a bed, it was a fort!" Blake replies

"And that's because Ruby still thinks still thinks she's six at fifteen!" Weiss rebuttals. I immediately put on a pouty, but playful face. "Hey! I may be small, but you get me mad, and I'll take you out by your shins!"

We all laugh again at this, and by now Yang comes flying into the kitchen with Sparrow on her shoulder "Yo! What's so funny?"

"Nothing, Sis!" I say "Just reminiscing about old times!"

"You're not old enough to recount old times."

"Yang!" I say, putting my hand on my hip "I mean back at Beacon! Before all this!"

"So old times means, like, a month ago?"

"In technical terms, old times could even be five seconds ago." Blake replies.

"Whaaatever." Yang says, walking up to her stool as Sparrow joins the other Dimorphs on their perches. I look at Yang's hair, which is surprisingly well kept despite being a tad bit longer than usual.

"Dang, sis!" I say "Your hair is floofier than usual."

"Uhh...thanks?" Yang says "I mean, surprisingly, Annie had some decent conditioner and stuff in the shower, but...Heh, it's better than when my hair gets all frizzy. Tried to brush it a little...but I think I'm in the need of a little trim."

"I think we all are!" I say "I'm not too good with keeping my hair out of my face!"

"Well, I think I have a solution to that." Blake says.

"Blake, really?" Weiss asks "You can play barber?"

"Well, again, I've been reading through Annie's various notes and journals, and I learned something. While some people will actually use the minuscule materials to make a pair of scissors, Annie had been doing something she learned from some lesser-advanced tribes, having found the idea novel herself, and in her own words 'a bit more interesting then getting a trim with scissors', and you don't really need to do much to get it, either."

"Really?" Yang asks "So what's this remedy for makeshift scissors?"

"The bottom jaws of smaller megapiranha."

We all stare at her for a bit. "Wait...megapiranha jaws?" Yang asks. Blake sighs with a bit of a smirk, reaching into her back pocket. "That was part of the reason I wanted to go fishing. Back before I went fishing in my usual spot, I went up to the channel to try and find small enough specimens. Here's what I mean." she pulls out two bones of equal size. In general width, these small jaws are just a bit more than one whole inch wide. Blake holds one lower jaw each in her hands, then puts them together. The two jaws, although from two separate creatures, lock together fairly well. She turns on her seat a little, then looks into her reflection of a nearby pitcher on the counter. "Now, if I remember correctly..." she states, tilting her head so she can see the right side of her face better, then begins clacking the jaws together along her hair. Each time they clap together, surprisingly, it cuts her hair quite well, and looks really good, as well. Blake cuts off a few stray bangs before stopping, and turning. "I didn't get any hair on the counter, did I?" she asks. Weiss smiles, but shakes her head. "No, just clean up your own mess before you leave and we'll be alright."

"I can oblige with that." Blake replies. "So, think this will work?"

"In your capable hands!" I say "To which, I wanna be the first to get a piranha-haircut!"

"As much as I'd like to get my trim, Blake...I'd like to see if you can actually do it pretty well with the others..." Yang says "You know me and my hair."

"I respect you in that regard." Blake says "It's like me and my bows, in part."

"Speaking of, Blake." Weiss says "I haven't seen you covering up your ears often, if at all, despite you have plenty of opportunity and options on how."

"Heh, to be honest, why do I now?" Blake says, smiling. "I'm with my trusted friends. Why hide what you already accept and love me for?"

"See? ARK's making us all better!" I say "Despite the fact it tries to tear us apart at the same time!"

Weiss shakes her head. "Alright, now...about lunch..." she bends down into a smaller cabinet, taking something out. "These are still nice and warm, so, should be good."

"And what are you feeding us all with?" Yang asks. Weiss sighs, taking off the lid of the tray "Well, how's this? Pulled phiomia meat for a nice, hardy sandwich with some fries on the side made from savorroot. Well?"

I quickly snatch a fry from the plate of fries I see in front of me, popping into my mouth. I smile "Just the right salt, not too flimsy or firm. Isn't a fast-food style fry, either!"

"Never had fast food, so I wouldn't know." Weiss says, shrugging. Yang suddenly snags a piece of pulled meat from the other plate, popping it into her mouth. "So you can have barbeque on the ARK." she states "And good barbeque, too. Nicely done, Weiss."

"Thank you!" She says smiling "but if you could please eat the food the way it's supposed to be eaten?"

"Never!" Yang teases. We all laugh, and then begin to fill our plates with a pulled-meat sandwich with meat levels to our own choices, and some fries. Weiss normally sits on the kitchen side of the counter, anyway, across from me. We chat a little as we sink our teeth into our food. A few minutes later, Yang's torn through her sandwich and fries and started on seconds. I'm still trying to finish my first one, having eaten all the fries and about 3/4ths of my sandwich, with Blake and Weiss also having eaten a fair amount. Weiss smiles, then stands, wiping her hands on a small towel, then turns to the fridge. "So, guys. I have a question." she says a bit smugly.

"Fire." Yang says, mouth full of meat.

"Well, how long have we been here for?"

"A full month!" I say smiling, with an empty mouth. "Why?"

"Well, that's just it. We've been around a whole month! I thought i'd try and make a little thing to celebrate that fact."

"Oh boy, wha'd ya make now?" I ask. Weiss smiles, opening the fridge, and taking out a covered tray. "something sweet, and something I've never done before-"

"You've never really cooked before." Yang interjects.

"Beside that! Something I've never even really had, myself...but I followed the recipe in Annie's cookbook...so..." she puts the tray on the counter, then removes the top "Voila!"

The three of us are staring at what Weiss has made. I...Is that...even...possible? On the ARK? Slowly, for some reason, I reach out with my left index finger and poke it...it jiggles. No, it can't be. I poke it again...it is. Gelatin. A big thing of gelatin, which Weiss has gone so far to even make it four equal colors: red, white, black and yellow. I've poked the gelatin about five times before Weiss snatches my hand "Would you stop?!" she says with a laugh.

"It's...Jiggly." I say in a somewhat childish tone. We all laugh. "Ok, but, seriously, does it look good? I busted by butt doing this." Weiss states.

"Looks good, so I guess all it needs is a taste test." Blake says with a wink. Weiss smirks back. "A little taste test. Little taste test. You can have more for dessert when you finish."

With that, Weiss hands us each a spoon. I dig mine right into the red part, and it ends up that we all take a piece from our own respective color. I pop mine in my mouth, and smile. "Super sweet and fruity!" I say happily "Weiss, you rock this kitchen! Seriously!"

"Heh, thanks. I'm just happy it turned out good." She moves the gelatin out of our reach. "Finish up, you have more."

"Alright." I say, beginning to tear through my lunch at a pace rivaling Yang, just so I can get a proper helping of gelatin. Suddenly Yang sees how fast i'm eating and tries to eat faster than me, as if trying to start a speed eating contest...next I know, Yang coughs a few times...did she really just-?! Next I know, Blake's behind her giving her the Heimlich, and soon, she's back to normal, swallowing whatever choked her. "Hah! I wasn't even trying to start anything!" I say, with a mouthful of food, pointing at Yang. "Dat's what you get!"

"Ack...sorry..." Yang says low. "Like...really...sorry."

"Don't die on us yet, Yang." Blake says "It's too early."

"Pfft, I don't plan on it." she says, sitting back down. "I think I just learned my lesson, that's all." She takes a drink of a fruit juice Weiss has made, before turning to me. "So, sis. Did ya see it while you were out?"

It takes me a minute to get what she's talking about, but then, I suddenly remember. "Oh!" I say, swallowing my food. "Yeah! I tracked it to the southern beaches, that's where it's footprints lead."

"Did you actually see it though?"

"Yep! I saw him. He was resting in the shade of a few trees. It was hot then, so...yeah. But he should still be there."

"Guessing today's the day you and Ruby are finally going to go out and try and get you that Lythronax, Yang?" Blake asks, taking a drink of her own juice. Yang nods happily. "Yeah, I mean, no offense to Titania, I love her and all, but...I want something that can keep up with ya'lls mounts a little easier, but is also badass. That's why I want that mini t-rex."

"Sabertoothed mini T-rex." I say. Yang nods "Yep. Sabertoothed, fluffy, mini t-rex."

"Ehh...30+ ft isn't exactly miniature, but...who knows? Maybe rex got bigger here." Blake says, going back to her sandwich. "Oh, Ruby, after lunch, you want to get that haircut real quick before you and Yang go out after him?"

"Sure. Would be nice if I could see what I'm doing."

"Alright. I think I can work with that."

So we finish up our lunch and dessert a few minutes later, before going to the upstairs bathroom. Yang helps Weiss with kitchen cleanup while Blake wheels in a chair from the master living quarters. "Here you are." she says, sitting me it in front of the sink and mirror. "Go on ahead." I sit down in the chair, and she wraps a large towel around my top. "Now, I've never done this, so..."

"Ey, this dummy his happy to be your training dummy." I say with a big, wide smile.

"You're not a dummy!" Blake says with a bit of a laugh. "But, either way, thank you. So, just want it trimmed back down to normal?"

"Yup!" I say "Do your best, alright? I won't judge ya...at least, so long as it's ok."

"Heh, I'll do my best. I'm no barber, but i'll try and do something good for you guys." she begins to wet my hair using water from the sink. I smile at her "Hey, you've been doing nothing but good things." I say "you've changed a lot. I mean, you've opened and changed really well. You're talking more, smiling more, and enjoying things more. You're eager to jump on a game of ninja and beat the snot out of us, always giving us kind advice, and...well, you're not the Blake I once knew, and that's a good thing. Not that I...hated that old Blake, ya know?" I wink at her. She nods back "I know. I'm...ecstatic about this new me. I'm everything right now I thought I wouldn't be...i have everything I thought I couldn't have. A happy life full of people who accept me for who I am...even if it's been only a month. I do really feel like family to you guys." she begins to now cut my hair using the piranha jaws. "About time you felt welcome among us, Blake." I tease "I'm being honest when I say that we all really do care about you."

"I know. It's...heh, it's just me. It's all a bit too surreal for me...and..well..."

"Well what?"

"Maybe that's why...somehow, i'm a bit skeptical of it all."

"Really?" I ask "How? Why?"

"...I don't know. I mean, truly, i'm happy I have this life with you all, and that i'm so close to you all, but...for some reason, something in me is skeptical about it all, telling me it won't last."

"Maybe that's because of the same reason you ran when we learned you were White Fang. You're just scared to death, in part, I think."

"Well...i can see what you mean. I guess...i'm just terrified somehow i'll loose all of this."

"Ey, I know it's a fragile balance for you, Blake. There's been times on the ARK I've felt similarly. Like last week when that Megalodon paid us a visit on our shallow reef dive on the eastern side of the island."

"Thank god for small rock outcroppings that form caves." Blake says, recalling the event. "but...yeah, I guess like how you teased Weiss, I...I just have...well, not special needs, but..."

"I can't exactly treat you like how I would my other friends, I know...but I really like it, Blake. I like having a special friend like you."

"And I like having unique friends like you, too." she says.

"As long as you're happy, Blake, we're happy. That's all that matters."

Blake and I continue to chat as she cuts my hair. Finally, she turns the chair around so I can see my reflection. "Well, what do you think?" she asks "Do I make a good makeshift barber?..."

I smile seeing my reflection, and I brush some of my hair to the side. "Spot-on, Blake!" I say happily "I guess piranha aren't so bad! At least, in this regard. Nice job!"

"Heh, thanks." Blake says, setting the jaws down on the sink, then taking the towel off of me. "Guess i'll...wait for everybody else to get their haircut before I clean up the bathroom floor. That ok with you?"

I look around on the floor, seeing some of my hair here and there "Eh, it's not bad. I'd say just sweep it to the side for now, or something. Guess i'll go get Yang and we'll go after that Lythro. I can send Weiss up here next, if you'd like."

"Sure, gives me a good opportunity to clean up before Weiss comes in."

So I head out of the bathroom and back downstairs. Lo and behold, I find Yang still in the kitchen, talking to Weiss. Weiss is back behind the bar counter as usual, and Yang sits in her usual stool, a drink in her hands.

"So yeah, that's what I think." Yang says "I mean, I'm pretty sure it could work."

"Well, maybe." Weiss replies "I'm...not exactly confident on the..."

"Ey, up to you. Might as well enjoy our privacy while it lasts."

"Whatcha talkin about?" I ask, walking up. Yang smiles "Dang, sis! Blake did a really good job with your hair!"

"Didn't she? Those jaws work pretty well after all. Yet, as I asked, whatcha talkin' about?"

"Ah, I mentioned to Weiss I was thinking about tanning in my spare time since we live on an island. Turns out she had the same idea. Only difference between the two of us is that I was planning on avoiding tanning lines."

"You would." I say "Knowing how many times you tried tanning at the beach back on Patch."

"Ey, it's good sun here, and plenty of privacy for now. Why not?..."

"Stereotype." Weiss says. Yang and I quickly turn to her "Hey! That's not funny!" Yang says, irritated. Weiss gives an uneasy face and shrugs, motioning to Yang. "Hey, you said it yourself, so..." Yang quickly understands what Weiss means "Well...Ok, I'm...well, freespirited flirt, that's the only type I am!"

"That's what I meant."

"Wait. So you didn't mean-"

"No." Weiss says with a mischievous, dark smile "Dang, Yang. Where's your head these days? Do I even want to know what you're thinking about half the time?"

"Yang you just got owned." I say with a bit of a tease. Yang's red by now "G...guh, ok, seriously, though. DO I come off like one?"

"Nah, not really." Weiss says. "I mean, when I first met you, I thought you were an overflirtatious high school girl, and really, you get that everywhere in life, so it's pretty common. Heck, I've seen girls flirt with girls even if they're both straight. It's...rarely possible to see that negative stereotype in you, to be honest. I mean, ok, yeah, blonde and attractive, but that's about it, really. I mean, I bet you get guys easily..."

"Meh, sorta. I get plenty of meatheads too, sometimes."

"I've been witness to that." I say "and normally that follows with Yang breaking faces."

"And delivering violent castrations." Yang says with a wink. We all laugh, and then Weiss sighs "Well, at least you don't mess around, Yang. I guess that's another good thing about you. You're a wildcard."

"Wildcard on a wild island. I think I fit right in." Yang replies, before turning back to me "So, Ruby. Guess ya want to go track down that Lythronax?"

"That's why i'm here!" I say with a smile. "Also, Weiss, Blake's ready for you."

"Eh, I don't know if I want my hair back to normal." Weiss replies "but I know it's got to get trimmed...maybe Blake and I can compensate for something."

"Probably. Yang I'll be in my shop getting a few things. Meet me out there when you're suited up."

"Sure."

So I begin heading back out of the house, as Weiss and Yang head upstairs. Once in my workshop, I begin grabbing a few things. Mostly, narcotics, and some tranq darts for Ancient Rose. While I wait for Yang I begin to go over anything else we might need. Soon, Yang herself comes into the shop, wearing a chitin chestpiece, flak-metal leggings, and her weapons which she named "Primal Conquerors" on her arms, in place of gauntlets. "So, sis. We stocked on everything?" she asks me.

"As far as I can tell. Did you want to use your crossbow or the longneck rifle I made you?"

"I was thinking crossbow, personally. Fires a little quicker and is easier to reload."

"Well, didn't you plan on taking Quru? If he can fly, gives you time to reload."

"True. So I guess you're taking some of the raptors for a distraction?"

"The whole squad." I say "Should be enough to distract him, anyway."

"If that's the case. Do you have enough darts?"

"Yeah...50 for me and 50 for you. Should be plenty."

"And Narcotics?"

"I got plenty of those, too."

"Sweet. I think we're set then."

We head back outside, gathering our animals together. Yang mounts on Quru and I take Ember, making sure my Deinonychus are right behind me. Once we're all set, we disembark. Heading out of the smaller gate near the back of the rock, we head down to the southern part of the Island. Quru is easily able to keep up with the raptors and I easily by flying low to the ground. I'm quick to pick back up on the trail of the Lythronax with the help of my raptors, and soon we're tracking it down easily. We're out hunting it for around 30 minutes, following it's path...finally, as we traverse up the east side of the island, along the shores of the beach...we see it. Distinctively, you see the shape of a tyrannosaurus, but smaller, around the size of a Carno. It's partially covered in a layer of black, downy feathers in some spots, but what sticks out...is the two pairs of saber teeth in it's jaws. The back pair isn't too much larger than the rest of the teeth, but the front pair is like that of a sabertooth cat, extending past it's lower jaws. That's the level 45 male Lythro Yang first saw two weeks ago. She immediately wanted it ever since. The Lythronax isn't hunting...but it's still got shed blood on it's mind. It's slowly advancing towards an unaware Carnotaurus, which feasts on a dead Pachy it had just killed. That carno is the same carno we saw on our first days on the ark, now having grown to lvl 14. The Lythronax now makes it's presence known with a loud, territorial roar. The Carnotaurus lifts it's head towards it's aggressor and roars back, head bent down in aggression, as if displaying it's horns and threatening to charge the Lythronax, to gore it to pieces with it's horns. The Lythronax isn't intimidated, and advances forwards, roaring more, and opening it's mouth to display it's own slicing weapons: it's sabertooth fangs. The Carnotaurus continues to stamp the ground with it's feet and roar as it slowly circles left, as the Lythronax roars back and circles right. They're feet apart from each other, snapping and roaring at each other. Finally, the Carnotaurus charges, slamming into the Lythronax's side and swiping it's head upwards. The Lythronax staggers from the blow but counters by opening it's mouth and using it's sabers like blades, slicing the left thigh of the Carnotaurus, which causes it to back up a bit, before going for the Lythronax's neck. The Lythronax then continues to use it's teeth to slice up the side of the Carnotaurus, who's only able to sink it's jaws into the Lythro's back, then ends up shoving it again a fair distance, causing the Lythro to let go. The Lythronax then attacks from above, opening it's jaws and sinking it's saberteeth into the back of the Carno's neck. The Carnotaurus roars in the excruciating pain and begins swinging it's head like a hatchet, stabbing the Lythronax in the neck again and again with it's horns. The Lythronax pushes on the Carnotaurus, throwing it to the ground, before letting go, but pinning the carnotaur to the ground with it's left foot, before rearing up again with a roar, and sinking it's fangs into the skull of the Carnotaurus this time, which ends the creature's life. It lets go of the creature's skull, then seems to look over it's kill, before roaring and starting to devour the victim's flesh. Yang's hyped that she got to once again see the capability of her mount, and grins ear to ear. "Alright, guess we're doing this." I say, getting myself ready, and unsheathing Ancient Rose, as I remain on the back of Ember. Yang looks over at me. "You're going to be firing and wielding that thing on the back of Ember? Doesn't that make her feel off-balance or something?"

"I've trained her a bit over time, so she's actually used to it. I can't shoot actual rounds with it, but the darts won't cause enough of a weapon kick to throw her off balance. Don't worry, I'm careful about my pretty girl, here." I say, petting the top of her head, to which she chortles. Yang smiles "Alright. Guess it is time to get this done. Go a little easy on him, after all. He did still get a few wounds from that Carno."

"Yeah, no prob." I say. I then look back at my Deinonychus, which have been diligently waiting, eyes locked on the Lythronax. I then give another whistle, and the Deinonychus give a few low growls before rapidly advancing. Just as they get close, Blue lets out a shrill cry to alert the Lythro to their presence. It quickly looks up at them just as Charlie does a mock pounce at it. Believing the bluff that it's under attack, the Lythro quickly begins to thrash about and attempt to attack my Deinonychus, which dodge it's attacks easily. Yang and Quru take to the air, and once airborne, Yang fires a dart from her rifle. It lands just behind the head of the Lythro. It roars from the pain of the pinprick and looks up into the sky and sees them circling above. It roars into the sky at them, but then Charlie distracts it by jumping up onto the Lythronax, which tries to grab him and throw him off, failing to do so. Soon, I start firing tranq darts from Ancient Rose. The Lythronax doesn't know what to do about the ranged attacks from Yang and I, and begins to focus on the Deinonychus attacking it. About two minutes later, it finally drops to the ground, succumbing to the tranquilization. Yang's very excited, eagerly beginning the taming process. Then came the process of waiting...and waiting...bleh, at least I brought something to keep me occupied. A book! Specifically, inspired by Annie's notes, we actually started writing our memoirs of our time on the Island. I write everything recounting our events on the island, our own perspectives on things...and I note how in-detail I can get about certain events, like the raptor attack where I met Ember. Makes me wonder if I could write a book... Yang, on the other hand...I don't even know what she's doing...I look up, and I see the raptors and Quru controlling the perimeter...but Yang is nowhere. I stand up off the log of driftwood I was sitting on and look around...she's...nowhere. I remember specifically seeing her on the other side of the Lythro... so I'm looking down as I walk around to the other side of the Lytrho and-

"I am the Sand Guardian, Guardian of the Sand."

...I-I...I just die, i'm sorry, that's the only way I can describe it. I start laughing so hard because of Yang...she's buried her entire body in the sand, the only thing poking above it is her head. "What are you doing?!" I say, laughing hysterically.

"Yo, what am I to do during such a long time?"

"Read a book! Write something!"

"I must be entertained. I haven't read a decent book in forever. I couldn't find anything neat and I didn't want to bother you...so I dug a hole."

"Are you...Standing?!"

"Nah, layin' down on my back."

"I...I've been practically writing this whole time. Have you been keeping an eye on his food and torpor and stuff?"

"Yup."

"How? Your arm's buried."

"Ey, I buried myself with my right hand covering my implant. I just give it a little tap and it still works."

"You lie!"

Just then, a blue screen emits from the ground below, to my shock, for a few seconds, before disappearing. Yang has a grin that stretches ear-to-ear. "Wait, HOW?!" I ask, still laughing.

"Don't question my Yang Ingenuity!" She says.

"But your hair! And you just took a shower!"

"I don't care! I was bored! All boredom and no fun makes Yang Xiao Long a dull girl! Loco one, too!"

"My god, sis. WHY."

"BOREDOM! Although, I think I'll take a nice swim at the beach before my topless tanning."

"Oh boy." I say "You're really going to?"

"Ey, bottoms too. I'm avoiding ALL tan lines. I must make use of our own PRIVATE dinosaur island."

"And you said 'This won't be all fun and games playing with plant-eating dinosaurs and eating fried dodo bird tenders', right?"

"It is on Cragg's Island!"

"Suuure...because we totally own the place after only a month."

"FIGHT ME!"

"Yang, no."

"Then don't complain!"

"Alright, alright!"

Just then, Yang's patience pays off, as her Lythronax wakes up from unconsciousness, standing onto it's feet. Yang springs onto her feet from being underground, sending sand flying everywhere, causing me to bring up my hands to cover my face. "VICTORY!" Yang cheers at the top of her lungs, arms raised into the air. She raises such a commotion she startles my raptors and Quru. She dashes right up to her Lythro and bear-hugs it's snout. Just then, it suddenly sneezes from the sand on her getting to it's nose, causing her to fall on her butt. I laugh "That's what ya get, sandy!" I mock. Yang gets up and hastily brushes herself off. "Ok, I get it. Boredom can come back at ya. I don't care though. Mini T-rex!"

"Sabertoothed Mini T-rex."

"Same difference!"

"So? What's his name?"

"Name?...With teeth like that...Blade."

"Blade? Works for me!"

Yang insisted on riding Blade back to base bareback. Once we got back, I pounded out Blade's saddle in my smithy, giving it to Yang, who put the saddle on Blade, then went upstairs to take a shower and get her hair trimmed by Blake, now feeling confident having seen Blake's haircuts on everybody else. Weiss's hair is now back to normal, and so is Blake's own hair. Weiss went off to tend to the garden as I stayed in the workshop for the rest of the day, hammering out a few more projects.

I turn Yang around so she can see the mirror. "Well?" I ask. "Does it meet your high standards?". Yang tilts her head, looking at her hair from all angles. She smiles. "Heh, yep. Nice job Blake: you have my permission to touch my hair from now on."

"I feel so privileged." I say with a bit of a smile.

"You should."

I take the towel off of Yang and put it to the side. "So, what's next on your agenda?" I ask.

"Gonna go get Weiss. We're gonna go start sunbathing."

"Huh. She's ok about it you avoiding tanning lines?"

"Yeah, I convinced her to do the same."

I'm staring at Yang for about a fraction of a second, then blink a few times quickly. "You're...serious?"

"Yep. Victory for the private island's privacy!"

"...I guess." I say with a sigh and smile. "You two enjoy yourselves."

"Ey, It's a bona-fide fact: blondes tan better than white-hairs."

"If that's the case. I'm planning on going somewhere with Ruby if she's interested."

"Eh? Really?"

"Yeah. I want to do a bit of territory scouting."

"Just come back safe, now." Yang says, standing. "See ya, and good luck."

"Thank you."

I clean up after the last haircut for a while, then head out to Ruby's workshop. I can hear the banging of metal on the inside. With Raven on my shoulder, I open the door and look inside. Ruby's pounding away on a plate of metal, as she wears a pair of goggles to protect herself from the flying embers as she pounds the heated plate. She lifts it up off the anvil carefully with a metal grasping device, then dips it in a small container of cool water. "Hey, Ruby?" I ask, letting her know I'm there. She looks my way, lifting the goggles off of her head. "Hi, Blake!" she says.

"What are you up to now?"

"Finally finishing the Flak-metal armor." she says "I made yours and mine already, Weiss's is cooling down, and this here is one of the shoulder pads for Yang's...it's coming along. What's up?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go adventuring with me for a little bit."

"Oh, sure!" she says, taking the goggles off, and whistling behind her. Robin flies down from some of the rafters and lands on her shoulder. "Where we going?" Ruby asks.

"I just want to explore the swamps to the north a little bit. If they're the quickest way to the Great Peak, maybe we could do a little recon to see if we can find a safe route."

"No problem! Guess I can get Gustave, he should be good for swamp travel."

"I was personally thinking about using Bari, but bringing White along for support. The more we have to fend off possible enemies, the better."

"Sounds like a plan to me!" she says smiling, then points to an armor rack behind her. "Get your chestpiece off the rack over there. I'll meet you at the river with Gustave, alright?"

"Sure, no problem...guess you're going to test your grappling hooks as a quick way down the cliff?"

"I've tested them already." She says with a big smile, pulling out a crossbow and putting it on her free shoulder. "They're addicting. Seriously, I found myself having too much fun with these things."

"As long as they're working fine. Take a few for me too, just in case?"

"Sure, happy to!"

"thank you."

I go to the rack to get my new piece of metal armor, as Ruby heads out of her shop and begins to use a grapple hook to repel down the cliff face to our other fenced area below, to get Gustave. It takes me about a full minute to put on my armor, then I head out of Ruby's workshop, closing the doors behind me, then whistling for Bari and White. I mount Bari and begin to head out one of the smaller gates in our perimeter walls, heading down towards the river. Sure enough, there's Ruby on the back of a saddled Gustave, who basks in the sun, with her on his back. "You sure you're wanting to go with me and do this?" I ask Ruby.

"Yeah!" she says happily "You need somebody to get your back, and I'd love to explore new territory on the ARK with ya!...although, ya know...Swamps having...giant leeches."

"Leeches are mainly aquatic creatures." I state "I think that as long as we keep moving, they won't be able to latch onto us...especially if we're quicker than they are."

"What if they evolved to be torpedo leeches?"

"That..." I pause for a moment. "...That would be terrifying."

"We might just have to go the long way!"

"Perhaps. Yet, there's only one way to find out, Ruby. Are you ready?"

"Born for adventuring!" Ruby says with a smile, unsheathing Ancient Rose, and pointing it in the air in front of her. "Gustave, HO!"

With that, Gustave slowly rises off the ground and begins slowly walking forwards on land. It's actually fairly funny, and I actually take a second to fight off my laughter. Then, White, Bari and I follow after Ruby and the ever-slow Gustave, as we venture on to an explored region: the swamp. We've never been that far inland before, and I can't help but be curious of what new creatures we'll see. Once we cross our bridge it will be foreign territory. Time to explore, and find a safe way to the Great Peak.


	15. Chapter 12

Blake and I continue our trek towards the swamp. After crossing our stone bridge, we continue onward up the coast. It takes a little more than half an hour until we reach our intended destination. There's a massive lake ahead, and beyond that, a deep swamp. In the outer edges of the swamp's forest we see a familiar sight: Paracers, grazing along the forest's perimeter. The lake itself is fairly pretty. I find myself enraptured by it for a moment. Suddenly, Blake whistles. "Hey, steer clear of the lake."

"What's up?" I ask

"Look." She says pointing. I look the direction she's pointing...and I can make out around EIGHT different wild Sarcosuchus. Some are on the distant opposite shore, and some patrol the water of the lake. I shudder "Well then...let's try and keep out of a fight with them, hmm?"

"Only for how long, though?" Blake asks. "We're bound to get in a massive fight with something sooner or later."

"Maybe when we're just better off." I suggest. "Anyway, there's a really tall tree up ahead." I say, pointing to a very tall cypress that stands alone in the middle of a field. "Think it could give you a vantage point?"

"Shouldn't be too hard to climb." Blake replies. We ride on over to the base of the Cypress, before Blake dismounts Bari and jumps up onto the trunk of the tree. She takes out her weapons and begins to use the blades on them to help her climb the limbless Cypress to it's upper branches. I keep a watchful eye on her and our surroundings as she climbs into the tops of the tree. Once near the top, she begins to climb up using the branches of the Cypress. Finally at a high altitude, she leans on the trunk of the tree as she stands on a branch, then takes out her spyglass and begins to look around. "See anything?" I holler up.

"Somewhat..." Blake replies. "It appears farther up this side of the swamp there's a shallow area...that looks safe enough to cross. To be honest, looks like the safest way across."

"Regardless...it's still through the swamp?"

"Yes, Ruby." She says, with a teasing grin and looking down on me, spyglass on her hips. "It's still through the torpedo-leech-infested swamp."

I shudder. "Greaaaat...go us. Maybe we can move faster than the torpedo leeches?"

"We could...i don't know about Gustave, though."

"True...and we're probably going to be bringing Petra, Gamuto, and Titania through here, too...did anything in Annie's various notes say about removing or dealing with leeches?"

"There's something about a 'bug replellant' that masks your detection by certain animals, especially invertebrates. Yet if you still got close, they'd get you. As for direct leech removal...I'm pretty sure it said Fire or Precision Bladework."

"So either burn it off or cut it off?"

"Yeah, from what I saw."

"Alright-!" My eye catches something right above Blake moving in the trees. "Blake!" I holler. "You're not alone up there!"

Immediately she turns and looks up into the tree. Something begins to lower down to "greet" her...the head of a massive snake. It hisses and flares out a Dilophosaurus-like frill, before lunging at Blake. Blake easily dodges the attack, only to come face-to-face with another one of the snakes. My eye can make out three in the tree with Blake, each one must be around 25-35 ft long. Blake quickly begins to try and scurry down the tree, but it's a bit of a high jump, even for her. "Ruby!" she yells. "Cut the tree!"

"What?!"

"I'll be ok! Do it!"

Without another hesitation, I unsheathe Ancient Rose and deliver a vicious slash at the base of the tree. That one slash cuts the tree completely at an angle, as it begins to fall away from me and our mounts. Blake begins to start running down the tree as it falls, the snakes chasing after her. Just before the tree slams on the ground, Blake jumps, landing deftly next to me. The impact of the tree completely crushes one snake, trapping another, and scaring the hell out of the last. One simple shot from Ancient Rose puts the one surviving snake down, and a few shots from Blake's Final Gambit are what puts the trapped "Titanoboa" out of it's misery. "Heh, Glad you're alright from all that." I tell Blake. "That...whole moment there kinda remembered me of back on Remnant."

"Just because we're on the ARK, Ruby, doesn't make us any less of Huntresses." Blake says with a smile.

"I know." I say, returning her smile. "So. Guess we'll take care of these?"

"I've heard snake is pretty tasty meat, myself...so I'd guess. The hide should come in handy, if anything."

So, with our mounts on guard, we begin to carve these massive snakes. A few moments later, Blake looks up. "Hey Ruby?"

"Hm?"

"Do you know one of the main differences between venomous and non-venomous snakes?"

"Other than...venom?"

"Yes, other than that."

"Well, don't boas and stuff crush their prey with a death-hug?"

Blake chuckles from that. "Somewhat. Take a look here..." She lifts up a Titanoboa's head, and opens it's mouth. Inside there are four rows of sharp, backwards-facing teeth in it's maw. "In the sake of constrictors, they have a mouth full of backwards-facing teeth which grab onto prey and prevent the prey's escape. That's why the first initial strike is so important: get as much of the prey in your mouth as you can. That's when the snake starts wrapping it's coils around you, trying to crush you to death. When you finally die, that's when the snake swallows it's prey whole. Venomous snakes also have the same rows of teeth, but they're smaller, save for the fangs that inject their potent venom."

"Huh. Cool." I say, admiring what i'm learning.

"Aside from that, what's strange is this boa can barely unhinge it's jaws...the teeth are also meant for digging into flesh, then ripping out, if you can't see here..." Blake says, pointing. "That and the fact that many of the teeth are hollow..."

"Hollow?"

"Yes. They secrete a tranquilizing venom, like the scorpion. Did you notice how powerful the muscles in these snakes are?"

"Yeah, I did." I reply "Cutting through them was a bit of an issue. They were really tough."

"This whole snake is incredibly muscular, even for Snake standards..." Blake says, going off into thought. "That must mean...damn."

"What?"

"The way these things must kill sounds like something a Grimm would be doing..."

"What are you saying?"

"It sinks in as much of it's fangs as it can, then, using sheer force, rips chunks out of the victim, while also injecting it's tranquilizing venom. So, the victim either gets torn apart, or if lucky, falls asleep before being torn to pieces."

"...that...is a definite no for me." I say with a bit of a shudder. "Definite, definite no. So...yeah."

"Heh, i'm surprised these things could even be supported by the tree's branches. They look to heavy for the majority of the branches up there."

"I guess that's why they're called Titanoboa."

"Speaking of...these are smaller than the Titanoboa I've read bout."

"Really?"

"Titanoboa was equal in length to a Rex. These are shorter."

"Well, Ark's already thrown us curveballs like that before...like Quru."

"I swear the majority of these animals were engineered somehow by the Overseers." Blake notes, beginning to carve the snake in her grasp. "Petra's spikes are uncharacteristic for an Ankylosaurus; Gamuto's tusks defy what's known about how teeth branch and function; Malachi is smaller than an actual dilophosaurus, has a frill, and spits venom; these Titanoboa are smaller and have frills; Scorpions, Ogre Darners, and Snakes have tranquilizing venom...I could go on."

"You...kinda did." I said with a tease and a wink, before bending down and helping her with her snake. Our pets are close by, ready to protect us in case of attack. I'm bending down with Blake, when soon I start to hear a buzzing. It's a low buzz, that gets really close very quickly. It sounds like something buzzing in my ear. Blake and I look up to see a large dragonfly, a Meganuera, circling above. It's wingspan is a little more than a foot...and it keeps flying in circles above us. "Ok, now that's annoying." I say, irritated. "Back off!" I swat the Meganuera with the back of my hand, and it responds by biting the back of my middle finger. "OW!" I shriek, yanking my hand away. Blake, in a quick reflex, pulls out only one of her weapons, and slashes at the Meganuera, cutting it in half. She re-adjusts her focus on me. "You ok, Ruby?" She asks me. I'm sucking on part of my finger, despite my metal gauntlet. "Yeah, I am...that guy got me right between the plates on my glove!"

"At least you're ok. How are you feeling?"

I check my inventory, and the word next to my "Status" terrifies me. My skin turns white and my blood runs cold "I...I'm poisoned."

"What?!"

"My...stamina is going down quickly." I note. "I...guess that explains how tired I feel."

" C'mon, let's get you home." Blake says, helping me to my feet. Just then, I check my inventory again. "Hey...it stopped." I say, checking over my stats.

"Wait...it stopped?"

"Yeah...my stamina's going back up."

Blake pauses a moment, then seems to grasp the concept. "Tranquilizing venom on some creatures, then stamina-draining poison on others?...For something like those Dragonflies, it's ingenious."

"Why do you say that?"

"I've seen them on Cragg's island, even had one land on my hand. They're completely passive unless there's fresh meat...i guess they're like Carrion Flies. Attracted to flesh and turns aggressive when near a carcass. If it's fighting for whatever was just killed, it would have to deal with the predator. So the dragonflies swarm both carcass and predator. Each time they bite they hit with their stamina-draining venom. Each time the predator flails to attack, it uses it's own stamina. This happens to the point that the Meganuera cause the predator to collapse due to exhaustion, and then causing them to be eaten...alive..."

She trails off at that end sentence. "What?!" I ask "What is it?!" She's staring past me...and then I hear it.

Buzzing.

Lots. Of Buzzing.

Then I realize. We're surrounded by Meganuera.

They swarm the both of us and begin biting us from everywhere. Immediately our pets try to come to our rescue, but their bites and slashes don't do much, as the Meganuera seem to just dodge them easily. Suddenly, I can hear Blake's voice over the buzzing.

"RUBY GET DOWN!"

I instinctively drop, crushing a Dragonfly on the way down. I hear Blake whistle, and then all of our pets retreat a decent distance. Then I notice Blake has quickly thread a small rope through a ring at the end of one of her gun's grip. Suddenly she leaps up around ten feet into the air, letting go of the rope. The rope itself is also around that same length. She then begins spinning, swinging her blade around at a speed so fast I can barely even track it. All I see are the splatters of blood from Meganuera everywhere as they're slashed to pieces. I've seen Blake do this before with Gambol Shroud back home on Remnant. It's only a few brief seconds, but Blake's cut down every single meganuera. There must have been around fifty of them! Blake lands deftly, her gun in one hand, and her other hand on the ground, as she's landed in a crouched position. Blake struggles to try and stand, but she's exhausted after having so much poison injected into her body. I try and reach for my inventory, taking out a bowl of stimulant. "Here." I say weak "It'll help."

She takes the bowl quickly and drinks a slight bit of it. She immediately closes her eyes, scrunches her face, and shakes her head. "Weiss wasn't kidding when she said it has a kick..." she says in disgust, then hands it back to me. "Here. Have a taste of your own medicine."

"Heh...With...pleasure.." I say hesitantly, before drinking a slight bit myself. The taste is absolutely terrifying and bitter, even gritty. I spring onto my feet, dropping and spilling the bowl on the ground. "Ok that's NASTY!" I shriek, quickly taking out a water jar that I had made to replace my waterskin, and taking a nice, hardy drink. "Hahhh.." I say, wiping my mouth. "Much better..."

"at least we'll have Chitin for a while..." Blake says, looking at the mass bodies of Meganuera. The majority of the bodies are sliced up. I take a look around, eventually, my eyes lock on one that Blake seems to have killed by slicing it's underbelly, but it's still enough to keep the dragonfly whole. "Hey look!" I say, pointing "You didn't cut that one up!"

Blake turns and sees the dead dragonfly. "Hm. So I didn't."

"Lemme see..." I say, reaching out to grab the dead dragonfly. I take this as a good opportunity to look at the dragonfly's anatomy and see how different it looks from normal ones. Just as my hand is about to touch it, there's a short, somewhat low sound. Next I know something long and pink grabs the head of the dragonfly and yanks it away from me. I look up, startled, to lock eyes with...a giant frog. About 5 ft away, there's this really big frog, so big it's bigger than me if I were to ball up on the ground...probably big enough to ride. It's got a dark black color with a white underbelly, amber eyes, and yellow stripes on it's body. It also has a few small spines on it's head. Apparently, it's a wild male "Beelzebufo", a lvl 56 one. We're staring directly at each other, and the frog's throat seems to pulse with it's hurried breathing.

"Frog!" I say with a smile. "Superfrog!"

The Beelzebufo lets out a long, slow croak. Blake, behind me, looks at our new visitor. "He's...big." she says "I guess that's because he eats the bugs of the island..."

"Probably." I say, looking to my left, and picking up half a meganuera. As I expected, the Beelze shoots out it's tongue with another croak, snatching it from my hand. I laugh this time, finding it funny. "Wierdly enough," I say "I find him cute."

"Cute?" Blake asks. "Giant frog, cute?"

"Yup. You try feeding him!"

Blake looks down and sees another meganuera body. She bends down and picks it up, then whistles as she stands with it. The frog notices, then lashes out with his tongue again, which flies right by my head, grabs the bug in blake's hand, and then eats it. That tongue is lightning-fast. And strangely enough...it likes us feeding it. We take a few moments to continue to feed it the meganuera and have fun with it. Soon enough, it seems quite content and friendly with us. "Isn't this cool?!" I say, now sitting on my knees next to the big frog. Blake nods "Interesting, for sure...and that tongue of his is quite amusing. Seeing normal frogs do it naturally is interesting enough, but seeing that scaled up to this size is...i will admit, quite funny."

"So. I think if we keep this up we'll tame him." I say. "What do you think is a good name for him?"

"For a frog?...Pierre."

"Pierre The Superfrog..."

"Yes, the Beelzebufo."

"I shall forever call it a Superfrog."

"Fair enough."

"Yes!" I say smiling "Victory for superfrog!" I then hug Pierre behind his head, and he seems to like it...but then immediately I note...he's covered in clear, sticky mucus. I slowly pry myself off of him "EWW! Superfrog slime!" I say in disgust, trying to pry myself off. Blake busts out laughing "Guess that backfired, didn't it?"

"I guess..." I say, now free of my sticky bindings. "So I guess I can't hug...super..." I start rocking back and forth, tired, on my knees. Blake tilts her head, visibly concerned. "Ruby?...are you feeling ok?"

"Can't...hug...super...super...sleepy."

and with that, i'm out cold on the dirt.

I wake up with my face in the dirt. I quickly sit up, spitting a few times and brushing my face of frantically. I hear Blake's laughter. "about time you woke up." she says, closing a book. I groan "Ok, how long was I out for this time?..."

"Hm? About an hour and a half..."

"Why is it every time I get konked out I don't take it well?!" I groan, flopping my arms to my side. Blake snickers "Well, you DID hug a Beelzebufo for a solid...what? Five seconds? With the mucus covering their bodies having a narcotic effect...not surprised you were out for so long. Or out so cold. There was another titanoboa attack while you were out...five of them this time, and despite all the roars from the pets, you wouldn't wake up. Guess that means you sleep pretty well then, hmm?"

"Sorta...like a rock...hmm?"

I just now noticed Blake's been lying on the ground, her head resting on the body of...something. It looks like a large lizard, with a sail on it's back. It seems to like Blake leaning on it. "What's that you got there?"i say smiling "a new friend?"

"Mm-hmm." She says nodding, then sitting straight. "This Dimetrodon here came around shortly after you passed out. I tamed him passively like I did Pierre...i named him Regulus, because of his sail, which regulates the body temperature of himself and others near him."

"Wait, so he's...a living AC unit?"

"Yes, basically."

"Cool...speaking of...where's Pierre?"

no sooner than I had said that, Pierre croaked, and I turned, seeing him with a saddle on his back.

"Wait, there's a saddle on him?" I ask "Is that safe?"

"Actually, yes. The Saddle prevents the narcotic's effects...you should be ok."

"So...I can ride a frog?"

"Yes. You want to give it a shot?"

"Sure. It's probably something i'll get a huge kick out of."

"Knowing you..." Blake says with a sigh. "Go on ahead."

I slowly get up onto my feet, then walk over to Pierre. I look at the strange saddle, and it appears i'm supposed to ride him sitting on my knees...alright then. I slowly climb onto his back, then grab the small reigns at the top of the saddle. Blake tilts her head as she stands. "Comfy?" she asks me.

"About...as much as I think I am." I say. I look around a moment, and turn Pierre towards the direction which we came from. I give a slight tug on the reigns, and instantly, he hops forwards a distance of about ten feet. I immediately stop, then turn towards Blake. She has a look on her face that tells of the complete ridiculousness she saw, barely holding back any laughter. I've got a similar grin on my face, and I look down at the reigns of Pierre's saddle...i tug on them again, and I start hopping around on Pierre. I've got a huge grin on my face as I find this incredibly amusing. Blake can't contain it anymore, and covers her face with her right hand, laughing, and shaking her head. "That...that just looks ridiculous!" she says.

"This is awesome!" I say, continuing to hop around them in circles. I'm even having so much fun doing this, I'm finding myself saying "Boing" each time Pierre hops. Blake and our pets seem very amused to see me so happy. Just then, I get an idea, and turn towards them.

"Boing...boing...boing...BOIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGG!"

On that last boing, I pull up on the reigns of Pierre's saddle. On Ember I do this to tell her to jump. Pierre does similarly, leaping high into the air in one giant superboing, leaping over Blake and the rest of our pets. The entire jump must have been about 50 or 60 feet! Pierre lands easily on the ground, and I turn him towards Blake, who nods, and claps a few times. "Bravo." she says "You must really be enjoying yourself."

"I am!" I say with a mischievous grin on my face. "I'm not getting off until we're back home!"

"Very well...although I don't think you'll like our lower pace home this time."

"Why's that?"

"Regulus." she says, pointing. "He is...VERY slow. Even when he 'sprints'."

"Oh? Is that so?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Well, then Gustave can give him a piggy back ride!"

Just then, Gustave looks towards me quickly and makes a short growl as if to say "Wait, what?"

I laugh. "C'mon, Gustave! Gotta be nice to the new guy!" He growls as if saying "alright, fine.", then Regulus rises off the ground, and with Blake's help, gets situated on Gustave's back. Once again, Gustave isn't encumbered by having such weight on him. "That's our strong supergator!" I say with a smile. "You go, Gustave!" He seems to give a happier growl with that, as Blake climbs atop White Fang. "Alright," Blake says. "I'll take these guys back down to the lower part of the compound. You enjoy your ride on Pierre."

"Oh, I soooooo am." I say childishly, before turning Pierre back towards Cragg's Island, and starting off. Pierre seems faster than the others, but Blake and the rest of our pets aren't too far behind. Instead of using the bridge this time, I have Pierre do another one of his superboings to try and clear the river. He almost makes it about halfway, before splashing down into the water below. I burst out laughing in delight, it's like a ride at a theme park! Pierre briskly swims across the rest of the river before we continue hopping along, eventually reaching the main entrance of our home. Once again, Pierre does another superhop, and completely clears the wall. He lands deftly with a thud. I smile and sigh, and just as I do-

"PFFFTTT! NICE!"

It's Yang's voice. It turns out she and Weiss were waiting to let Blake and myself in, but instead, it seems my little hop over the wall on Pierre surprised them. Yang's just as excited as I was to see Pierre first time, and she walks right up to him, crouching and looking him in the eyes. Yang's skin is much darker now, most likely from her tanning. Weiss walks up as well, her skin also darker. She's also intriuged by Pierre, tilting her head with a smile. Pierre croaks as he stares at Yang, who stares back. "So," Weiss says, turning to me. "What's with this new guy?"

"He's Pierre the SuperFrog!" I say with a smile, getting of him. "Or, if you wanna be technical, Pierre the Berzebuffle...uh...Ballzebofo?...ummmm...Beelzebufo! Yeah! That's it! Pierre the Beelzebufo!"

"Quite an entrance you and Pierre made." Yang says, reaching out to touch Pierre. "Ahhh!"i say, stopping her. "Wouldn't do that!"

"Why?"

"Found out the hard way: he's covered in sticky, narcotic frog-slime!"

"EWWW!" Weiss says with a shudder. "Why did you get him, then?!"

I check his inventory using my implant. " 'Cause when he eats bugs like ants or dragonflies, he turns them into cementing paste!"

"Wait, really?" Yang says, looking in his inventory as well. He has quite a bit of cementing paste from the dragonflies Blake massacred. "That's neat. And of course you would be the one to ride him everywhere. Can I?"

"Sure, go right on ahead."

Yang hops on Pierre pretty quickly. "Heh, beats walking, my legs are still sore from earlier, Weiss."

"Yeah, at least you're ok." Weiss replies, a bit of sincerity in her voice. I look at both of them.

"Wait...what happened?"

"Weiss learned a new engram and decided to test it out. Bolas."

"Bolas?" I ask. No sooner than I do, Weiss pulls out three rocks tied to rope, the opposite end of the rope tied together. "This is a bola." She says. "Just wind it up, throw, and it snares creatures of a certain size by binding it's legs together. I tried it on Yang to get back at her for a few pranks she's done...worth it."

"Gotta admit, after I was done being irritated by it...it was funny." Yang says, hopping around on Pierre. "Hella...this is fun."

"I don't think i'll never not get a kick out of hopping around on him." I say. Just then, I note a grapple hook fly up and over the cliff, catching on some rocks at the top of the cliff. I walk over and bend onto one knee, seeing Blake climbing up the cliff. Just as she gets to the top, I reach out to her with my right hand. She takes it, and I help her up onto the top of the cliff. "Thanks, Ruby." Blake says.

"Ah, no problem."

"Ey, sis!" Yang said, calling out to me as she turned Pierre towards me. Yang has a big grin on her face. "What's up?" I respond.

"You just did that without breaking a sweat, sis!" Yang says grinning. "That only means one thing. C'mon, Ruby. Lemme see."

I know what she's talking about. I sigh with a smile, then reach with my left hand onto my right shoulder. I detach the bindings on my shoulder, and slide off my right sleeve and gauntlet. I hold up my bare right arm and flex, revealing a surprising amount of muscle. "Daaaaang sis!" Yang says. She gets off of Pierre and walks up, and then starts feeling my arm. "I don't think you're so flimsy anymore!"

"Heh, well..." I say with a grin "When a dinosaur island apocalypse happens...survival ends up giving you a nice workout."

"I bet. Need to help teach you to use that muscle the right way, though."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Aww you know...i need to teach you how to properly fight somebody without a weapon."

"Siiiiis!" I whine. "You know I suck at that!"

"You have muscle now though." Yang says, turning her right shoulder towards me. "C'mon. Gimme a whallop."

"Seriously?" I ask, with Blake and Weiss watching on in a smile. Yang nods, and taps the upper part of her right arm. "Y

eah. C'mon. Just one. Gimme your best shot."

I sigh, then nod. I shift stance a little, raising my right fist, and I shake it a few times. I take a deep breath, then step back, and slam my fist into her shoulder with a loud smack. Each one of them reacts. "Daaaaaamn sis!" Yang says with a smile, and rubs her shoulder. "Remind me to pick less fights with you."

"Seriously?" I say surprised. "That hurt?"

"Yup. G-friggin-G." she says, shaking her head. "So, about that physical combat training?..."

"Sure. I'm game. If I actually hurt you for once, I think that's a good sign."

"Heh, no matter how strong ya get though...you're still gonna be my little sis." Yang says with a grin as she suddenly throws one arm around me in a headlock and starts giving me a noogie with another. Irritated, I growl at her, putting my left arm around her back and using my unarmored right fist to start punching her gut to get me to stop. Yang's noogies have turned into hair pulling by then, which I respond by giving a sweep kick to her legs to trip her. Soon enough, Yang and I are in another one of our sibling fights. However, this time I actually feel like I'm doing a bit more to her. Weiss and Blake immediately try to break us up, but they're laughing the whole time. Suddenly, there's a screech...Ember. Even though she knows we're messing around, she wants nothing of it from Yang. She charges right in and starts pushing, shoving, and gnawing on Yang to get her to let go. It seems like at first, nothing happens, and my sister continued to pummel me on top of me. It's turned into one big roughhousing pileup. Just then, Ember growls, then bites. Yang suddenly hollers out in pain, and lets go of me. "AHHH! FUCK!" she says, rolling onto the ground, her arms crossed, rolling onto her back. "GaaaaaaaaauauUAuaua..." she groans. I get up quickly, standing next to Ember. "What happened?!" Weiss said. Yang's still in pain a bit, but she's smiling. "Gaaaaaahh! Ember got me right on the left one!"she says putting her right hand across her chest and covering her left chest. I grin and throw my arm around Ember's neck, and pet her with my free arm. "Good girl, Ember! You tell Yang not to mess with me!" Ember gives a contented, happy growl and nuzzles me back. Yang slowly stands. "Owww.." she groans "Ok, I get it. Don't wrestle when Ember's around...and she can't be all the time...so...watch yourself. I'mma RKO you out of nowhere."

"Whaaatever John Cena." I reply. "Just you wait. One day I might just start pulling your hair back."

"Do that, I'll skin and feather Ember."

To that, Ember gives an aggressive growl, brandishing her claws and teeth at Yang. We all laugh, and I pet Ember a little more. "Easy girl..." I tell her. "She's joking...she better be."

"I am, I am." I said. "But hey... I can't lie. I'm not a happy girl when I get YANGRY."

The three of us, even Ember, stare at Yang with blank faces. Yang pauses a moment, and realizing she'll get no applause, sighs. "Welp. That one went extinct, didn't it?"

"Booooo." Blake says, cupping her left hand around her mouth and giving the thumbs down gesture with her right hand.

"Welp. Ebony blonde tried." Yang says, throwing her arms in the air with a sigh.

"I _will_ complement you on the tan, though." I reply. "You do bronze pretty good."

"Yeah I do." Yang says with a bit of a head shake as she puts her hands on her hips. "Don't know how long it will last, though. So what's the plan now?"

"I've been thinking." Weiss said. "About the upcoming trip to the Great Peak...shouldn't I get a new mount? I mean...i love Pachi, but...i think he's a bit fragile for some fights."

"True." Blake replies. "We'll want to be prepared for the Redwood Empire."

"Redwood Empire?" Yang says, as we all turn to Blake. Blake nods, and takes out a small field guide, probably one written by Annie. "Yes, it's what Annie nicknamed the redwood forests that cover the Great Peak." she says, flipping to a page and showing us. There's a pretty detailed drawing of a forest of absolutely massive trees. "Redwood trees?" I ask. "Aren't those the super tall trees?"

"Yes, and I bet on the ARK, they got even bigger." Blake replies. "Annie here notes some trees were even two-to-five Brontosaurus tall. They're huge. Another strange thing she notes is the presence of ruins." she says, turning to a page that has a beautiful sketch of some stone ruins in the midst of towering trees. "She mentions a lot of unique wildlife. I think it would be best to try and tame something new for you, Weiss, just to be safe."

"I figured as much." Weiss says, crossing her arms "I love Pachi, its just I dont want him to get hurt." It's just then, there's a bleat and Weiss is nudged from behind. Sure enough, it's Pachi, and upon hearing his name mentioned by Weiss, he wants some affection from her. Weiss sighs and kneels down, hugging and petting Pachi. "Yes, i'm talking about you. Just want to keep you safe, alright?" Pachi seems to bleat back in agreement. Blake starts flipping through the pages of the field guide. "I think I have an idea on what you might want, Weiss." she replies. "Didn't you say you were interested in jacks of all trades?"

"Yeah. Does Annie's notes say of anything."

"Indeed. I'm thinking what might be up your ally is-"

"If I may?"

"of course."

"Personally, I've been thinking Triceratops. They're productive in gathering, decently fast, and those horns of theirs could make for lethal weapons: especially in a charge."

"True, but Annie's notes here in this book talk of something nearby I think might be more of a fit for you than that: and it's even more powerful, and better than a Triceratops."

"Really? What's that?"

"I'm thinking what you need is a Direbear."

Weiss blinks a few times. "...A Bear? A 'Direbear'? What's that?"

Blake hands Weiss the book, which the open pages showing drawings, and descriptions of the Direbear. " _Arctodus dirus_." Blake says "Or, the Direbear. Found all over the island. Almost as big as the body of a trike; Omnivorous; carries a lot of weight; very powerful; and once it gains momentum, lightning fast for extended periods."

"I'd get it if I were you." Yang says, nudging Weiss. Weiss looks over the book's pages, then nods. "Alright...guess i'm getting a big bear, then. So do we start searching?"

"I've had Robin and Raven flying around already." Blake replies. "As for us...we need to make sure we have enough tranq darts. Annie notes that without them, direbears are notoriously hard to render unconscious without killing."

"If that's the case then." Weiss replies "Besides, it's probably not big enough to safely use this." as she says that, she takes out the weapon I made her, which she named her Silver Needle. She holds it elegantly by her side. "Does Annie say where to look for one on Cragg's Island?"

"From what I can gather, anywhere from the beach to the forest. There could literally be one right outside the walls-"

Just as she said that, there's a screech from something. It's Robin, who in a panic flies just over the top of the wall, at a very high speed. Raven is right behind her, and Robin quickly lands on my shoulder in a scared panic. Raven lands on Blake similarly, both of our dimorphodons terrified of something. "Aww Robin!" I say, a little concerned, as I pet her. "What happened? Why are you so scared?"

It's just then, my question is answered...there's something on the other side of the wall...and it definitely doesn't sound like a bear. Whatever it is, it's fairly high-pitched...and it's not alone. Something was chasing the two of them. Just then, something large bounds over the wall and lands on our side, about 50 feet away from us. It's almost 30 ft long, covered in green, featherlike scales that also have a mix of yellow. It's head is red, and it has a crest of feathers on the back of it's head. The creature's back legs seem strong, but what catches my eye is the large, flattened tail-club at the end of the creature's tail. It looks like some sort of dinosaur...but nothing like what I've seen. It sees us, then notes Robin and Raven hiding behind Blake and I, and roars in response. It then rears up a little and gives out a long howl. That's when five smaller creatures crest the wall from climbing it. They look like smaller versions of the larger creature, but without the feather crest, not as large of tail clubs. From what I can see...they're called "Maccao", and the large creature is a level 62 male "Great Maccao". "Any idea what THAT thing is?!" I say, stepping back, and putting my armguards back on. Blake's just as confused, quickly drawing her Final Gambit. "Not from what I've read in Annie's notes." she replies "Maybe the ARK got new creatures, not just new people when it went into autonomous mode."

I give a shrill whistle, and Pierre, Pachi, Robin, and Raven flee back farther into the compound. Ember growls back at the Great Maccao, hissing and flaring her feathers at it. We all seem ready for a fight...except for Weiss. Weiss...she stares at the Great Maccao a moment, then slowly draws her bow. "...Can we try and tame it for me?" She asks. Yang quickly looks at her. "What? You want that?! Over a bear?!"

"...something's telling me this thing is special." Weiss replies "I know it sounds stupid, but please?"

"Well, you're the only one with tranq ammo, then!" Yang replies back.

"Not me, I've got some!" I say, unsheathing Ancient Rose and loading a dart. Blake and Yang take a step back. "Alright. We'll get some supplies on our end. Keep it busy until then." Blake says. However, Yang's upset the Great Maccao and it's packmates cleared the wall, and she shakes her head angrily "Gotta do more fuckin' work with Petra to build the damn-"

"JUST GO!" Weiss I say in unison. At that second, Blake and Yang dash back, and the Great Macaao with it's pack charges. Ember gives a loud, shrill call before she charges with Weiss and I. I know that call: that's Ember's call to the pack. Responding to the call of their Beta, my Deinonychus rush out in time to see the three of us charging the pack of Maccao, and join alongside us in terms of distracting it. By the time i've gotten off my second shot in the Great Maccao, it comes flying over to me in a sort of hipcheck. Rolling out of the way, Ember and the Deinonychus distract it while Weiss begins to pick off each of the individual Maccao. Each one drops fairly quickly, and it appears Weiss is using tranquilizer rounds instead of standard rounds. Does she think she can tame them all? The Deinonychus, alongside Ember, keep doing mock leaps at the Great Maccao to keep it in place. The Great Maccao does a short leap at Blue, swinging it's large claws at her, but she dodges out of the way, and Echo retaliates by nipping the Great Maccao's tail. The Great Maccao whirls around to snap back, and then barks a few times those who surround it. I've gotten off a few shots into this thing, but still, it doesn't seem to fall. Just as Weiss gets the last of the Maccao down, the Great Maccao looks behind itself. It seems to open it's mouth with a smile, then suddenly leaps up, it's tail lifted. It slams it's tail down like a hammer behind itself, and does this a total of three times as it turns 180 degrees. Charlie takes a big hit from the second slam, but he recovers quickly. It's then that the Great Maccao rears up onto it's tail and begins to kick at my raptors from a reared position, balancing on that muscular tail of it's. Weiss then takes the opportunity to give off a bow-shot to the back of it's head. It's an instant hit, and the Great Maccao whirls around on it's tail with a hop suddenly, before flying at her surprisingly quick, using it's tail as a springboard. Weiss attempts to dodge backwards, yet once again, she trips up, and ends up getting a massive flying Maccao kick to the face, which sends her flying. "WEISS!" I scream, as the Great Maccao keeps going a few feet, then lands. She's dazed a moment, but soon rights herself onto her knees. The Great Maccao rears back up onto it's tail and goes for another lunging kick at downed Weiss, but at the last second as I run to her, Weiss suddenly holds up her hand at the Great Maccao, causing a Glyph to form between them. The Great Maccao's feet impact the glyph, and Weiss has a cunning grin on her face.

"Your turn."

Immediately the Great Maccao is forcefully rebounded backwards, as it shrieks in surprise, it's back slams into the stone wall that makes our perimeter, before landing on it's side. Weiss gets up as the Great Maccao does, however it sways to and fro on it's feet. It's very dazed after that last attack. Weiss still has her grin as she slowly unsheathes her Silver Needle, then walks forwards to the Great Maccao. She doesn't even have a narcotic file loaded with the injection edge, the Tactical Combat Rapier, as I named that type of weapon, still has it's standard edge. She walks right up to the dazed animal, then puts it's tip on the top of the Great Maccao's head and lightly pushes forwards. The entire creature then topples over, exhausted. Weiss, still having her grin, spins Silver Needle in her hands a few times, then stands with it at her side, holding it like a cane. "Can't make a fool of me that easily, sorry." she says, jeering. I smirk back "Oh really? Didn't I do that super flawlessly back at Beacon?"

"Ruby Rose, don't start!" Weiss says, pointing Silver Needle at me. I smile, and shrug. "Yo, just stating a fact."

"YOU'RE STARTING."

"Whaaaaaaaaatever." I say, checking on the smaller Maccao. Weiss then looms over the Great Maccao for a moment. "How's the big guy?" I ask.

"He's dazed, but alright." Weiss replies. "You don't mind me having a little squad of my own, right?"

"Weiss, you're probably the most tactical of us all, so you'd do well leading a group. After all, makes up for the fact you weren't chosen as our team leader." I say, sticking out my tongue and pulling down an eyelid. Weiss immediately responds by shooting a small ember out of Silver Needle at me. It flies right to me and lands on the tip of my outstretched tongue, immediately burning it. I give a high-pitched squeal and immediately hop a few times, spitting towards the ground and trying to brush off my tongue, while Ember and the Deinonychus watch me amused, as does Weiss. She snickers "Gee, thanks. At least I wasn't the only one who got burned in the end."

"Take...a...joke!" I say between spits and raspberries. Eventually, I loose balance on one foot and fall backwards, tripping over one of the unconscious Maccao. Weiss bursts into laughter, as do two other people...Yang and Blake, who've walked up by now.

"Sis, leave the jokes to the professionals." Yang says, tossing her hair back over her shoulder. Weiss gives a sarcastic look "Really? Professional? What planet are you from?"

"Regardless...you alright, Ruby?" Blake asks, helping me up. "Yeah...thanks." I say, rubbing the back of my head. "At least you're having fun, Weiss." Weiss seems to chuckle a moment, like a child. "Well... you know me. Never had any fun growing up. Finally, after a month, feels like I'm letting my adventurous side come out."

"Should have let something flying drop-kick you in the face ages ago then." I reply. Weiss snickers, then turns to Yang. "So. What have you brought me?"

"Other than more Narcotics?" Blake replies "Well, Blake said Annie made no notes of Maccao...but it looks the size of a Carno...functions more like a raptor...so we've got parasaur kibble here, with meat for the smaller guys."

"Shouldn't take too long." Weiss says, taking the kibble from Yang. She then walks over to the Great Maccao and hand-feeds it a piece of the kibble. "Heh, nice guess." Weiss replies. "seems to really like it."

"That's good." I say, then turning to my sister. "Oh, Yang?"

"Hm?"

"I wouldn't worry about building the walls up. Even if the Great Maccao can climb or jump the walls, so can wild Deinonychus. Maybe we just need more of a daytime guard, like how Sans and Nightshade patrol the place at night."

"Guess the carnivores have that under control until then." Yang replies "You've got a point, sis."

"Yeah...but I've been thinking...maybe there IS more work on these walls to be done."

"AWW COME ON!" Yang says, obviously irritated. "What else could there possibly be to do?!"

"Yang, it's getting crowded. A few more dinos and stables, we'll have no wiggle room."

"And how do you suggest we expand?"

"Take out the whole back wall and move it farther back."

"YOU'RE KIDDING ME?" Yang says visibly upset. Blake puts a hand on her chin. "There IS a decently-sized flat area in the forest a bit farther back...we'd almost increase by about 2 ½ times in size."

"...I'm not doing that shit alone." Yang says irritated. "Petra, Gamuto and I already worked our butts off making the upper and lower boundaries as-is."

"You honestly think we'd let you take on a job that big yourself?" I state. "I got muscles now, for pitty's sake. We'd all pitch in!"

"Ya better, too friggin' much work by myself..."

Weiss does a once-over of all six tames in progress. "Well, looks like i've got this for now. I'll stay here until they all finish."

"Sounds good to me. I'll go finish your flak-metal armor, do some other things in me shop." I reply. Yang huffs "Well...better go calm down, think i'll hop on the game console..."

"Mind if I join you? The book i've started reading has become a little slow." Blake asks. Yang smiles "Sure."

A few minutes pass by, and by now, i've finished building Weiss's flak armor. I stand, leaning onto one of my tables, drawing more schematics. I've had a lot of designs floating throughout my head recently. As I ponder over my current drawings, Weiss steps in. "Hey!" I say, smiling. "They tame up?"

"Yeah, just grabbing the requirements for the saddle. It's pretty cheap, surprisingly." Weiss says, walking over to various cabinets to quick-build one using her implant. "How'd the taming go?" I ask. "They tame alright?"

"Tamed fine, which is good." Weiss says, turning to me. "So what are you working on, Ms. Rose?"

"Well, I've been reading through various of annie's notes..."

"and?"

"Well, apparently you can make sharper, honed tools by refining obsidian into their blades. Coupling that with the fabricator, i'm thinking whenever I get one, I give all our weapons a more modern upgrade."

"Sounds useful to me."

"Yeah, although from what i've gathered so far...I might be completely redesigning Yang and Blake's weapons."

"More along the lines of what they're used to?"

"Mm-hm. They should enjoy that."

"What about mine?"

"Silver Needle? As of now all I can figure out is how to make it sharper and more durable. Don't know if there's dust on the island or not, but if there is, I'd be able to upgrade it for you."

"Thank you kindly." Weiss says with a smile, then walks out of the shop. I follow behind her, just in time to see her putting the saddle on her tamed Great Maccao. The other five Maccao are gathered around her, standing attentively. "So." I ask. "What did you name them all?"

"Well, granted this guy is known as a Great Maccao, and upon seeing those feathers of his on his head, I named him Monarch. As for those five; i've named them Glaucous, Hyacinth, Lear, Spix, and Scarlet."

"Those sound...familiar."

"Well, they're Maccao, and those names are different species of Macaw..."

"...oh! I see what you did there."

"Yeah...not good with names." Weiss says, climbing onto Monarch. I smirk "Hey, Pachy's name is cute, and Sans is fitting for him. Snowren is too, so I don't think you're too bad with naming."

"Maybe. Now, let's see..." Weiss tugs back on the reigns, and Monarch responds by leaping up onto his tail. Weiss nods a few times "Alright. So you can still do that...now are you still as agile..." She gives another tug on the reigns, and Monarch leaps high into the air using his muscular tail, ONTO my workshop's roof, where he lands on his feet. "Hey!" I say in a bit of a panic. "I don't think it's meant to take that much weight! Do you want to owe me a new roof?!"

"Sorry." Weiss says with a bit of a chuckle, before Monarch leaps down from the roof onto the ground. "He's definitely agile." Weiss notes "That's useful, and he'll be much better in a fight than Pachy, no offense to my little hardhead."

"Pachi's had it rough recently trying to keep up to par with the other combat mounts. I think he'll enjoy the retirement."

"He should. Say Ruby, what time is it?"

I pull up the screen on my implant. "6 PM." I reply. "Isn't that dinner time?"

"Indeed. Guess that explains the setting sun, too. Guess i'll get dinner ready."

"Alright, I'll go inside with ya. It's dinner, after all."

"Mm-hmm." Weiss replies, climbing down off of Monarch. "Look around if you'd like." she says to him. "The others can help you figure the place out." Monarch seems to nod, then calls to the other Maccao to rally them, before dashing past the house and towards the stables. I turn to Weiss "So. That's one animal Annie didn't seem to encounter last time." I say "Think there will be others?"

"It's possible." Weiss says. "Now, how about that stew, hmm?"

"Fooood!" I reply enthusiastically. Weiss shakes her head with a smile, then we both walk into the house.

It's nighttime by now. All of us are in our bedclothes, but enjoying the rest of the night to ourselves. I'm sitting on the couch in front of the TV with Yang. I've got my legs crossed, and a pillow between them which I clench onto tightly. Yang's playing some really creepy and scary mutant and zombie game, which is scaring me. Behind us, on a table, Weiss and Blake are playing a good game of chess. I can understand what Annie meant when she said she liked this house so much. It really does help make ARK feel like home, especially with all of us as relaxed...ish...as we are. Yang's zombie game is scaring me the heck out. She's playing along with a big smile on her face, loving every minute. "Huh, ok, cool." Yang says out of the blue. "What?" I quickly ask, turning to her.

"You didn't see the message on the screen?"

"No..."

"It said something like... 'Use right Z to sprint, be careful as sprinting will attract enemies'."

I gulp quickly. "Oh...uh...cool." Yang's been running nonstop every time one of those things gets close to her, navigating the level with surprising ease. She gets to a large open spot in an abandoned street, and sees a garage she has to go through to continue, but there's a padlock on it. She shoots off the padlock and-

 **GRAAAAARRRRRRRRRHHHh!**

A large, abomination of a creature bursts out through the shutters. My pupils must be near microscopic the second I laid eyes on that thing. "PFFT!" Yang scoffs "Really? That's how you're gonna introduce the first boss-"

 **AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**

I shriek loudly, clenching the pillow tightly to my chest. Yang's immediately paused the game, and is looking at me with a confused face of shocked disbelief, with some sort of a weird, tight-lipped smile. Weiss and Blake are looking at me with similar looks, frozen mid-game. I just realize how awkward this is. "S-sorry! G-g-go on!"

" _ **WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"**_

Yang bust out laughing, keeling over and holding her stomach. Weiss and Blake also start laughing as well. My eyes dart around to all of them quickly. "Hahahahaha...ohmygod, Ruby.!" Yang says, completely out of breath and gasping for air she's laughing so hard, keeling over on her side with her face buried in the arm of the couch. She slams her right fist into the arm of the couch over and over again. "W-w-what?!" I stutter.

"I'm so dead, sis." Yang responds while laughing. Immediately I shove my face in my pillow and groan loudly, kicking my legs quickly, the my heels hitting the couch.

"Oh come on, sis!" Yang says, raising her head and motioning to paused creature on the screen. "Look at that thing! It's a fat blubber!"

"WITH A CHAINSAW FOR AN ARM!" I respond, uncovering my face.

"It's a buzzsaw!"

"SAME DIFFERENCE!" I say, then shoving my face back into my pillow with another drawn-out groan. Once the laughter seems to die down, I slowly remove the pillow from my face and hug it tightly to my chest. "Yo sis," Yang says, the game still paused "Just gonna let you know none of us were making fun of you, alright? It's just...that was just priceless."

"Yeah!" Weiss says. "I mean...sorry, but still. That was perfect. Sorry, I guess we were...more along the lines of laughing with you?"

"I was laughing _at_ her." Blake says quickly with a grin.

"Oooh, cruel kitten!" Yang says, turning around.

"Duh. Why do you think I joined the White Fang?"

"You are sooo not the same person..." Yang says chuckling a few times, shaking her head. I huff, then sit up. "Well, at the very least, you're having fun too."

"Mm-hm. As you wanted me too." Blake says with a smile, leaning her head on her left arm, which is propped by the table. "So, on a more important note..." I ask "Is everything ready for tomorrow?"

"Filled the food troughs before I turned in." Yang replies. "With the raptors and Ozpin going out hunting, there should be a good supply of food for the carnivores, and i'll be leaving Titania here, to gather the berries for the herbivores."

"Alright. So who's coming?"

"Well, from what i've got here in my notes..." Blake says, pulling out a small notebook. "Ruby's got Ember...I'm taking Bari...Weiss will be on Monarch and bringing the Maccao pack...Yang's grabbing Blade, Petra and Gamuto are tagging along...should we bring Quru for good measure?"

"Sounds ideal to me." Weiss says. Yang and I nod "He could come in handy." I reply "Especially in the idea of taming."

"He _is_ our only narcotic-inducer." Yang says. "Plus, he's also our only flier."

"Do we have food for ourselves?" I ask.

"Made plenty of trail mix for the journey there, as well as some other food." Weiss replies. "I've packed a few other things for when we set up a base in the redwoods, too."

"Like?..."

"Piping, cooking equipment, bathroom necessities..."

"Bathroom necessities?"

"Toliet, shower, etc."

"You _would_ , which is appreciated." Yang replies. Suddenly, there's a look of realization on Blake's face.

"Oh, Ruby?" she asks me. I smile "What?"

"I did want to ask. Before you turned in for the day, you went out and deforested quite a few trees with Gamuto, and used up quite a bit of our metal...what was that for?"

"Oops, sorry." I say, rubbing the back of my head. "I went and made three wooden tree platforms...that's why I caused massive deforestation."

"Ah, that explains it. Those platforms will keep us high off the ground and away from threats. We'll definitely need Quru then to reach them while we're building up there."

"Sounds really cool, actually." Yang says "Mega treehouse with rope bridges, rope ladders...bet you never had a treehouse either, ey, Weiss?"

Weiss smirks "Well sounds like I'm about to, and a pretty kick-ass one at that. Only question is, what about the animals?"

"We should be able to build stables like what we have here using the abundant trees of the redwoods." Blake replies. "Plus, if we find a beautiful enough view, it would be great to wake up to something like that every morning."

"Guess my fervor-induced building is worth it after all!" I say with a big grin. "So? Watcha think? We ready to go to the Redwood Empire?"

"It's not that far." Blake says "The swamp will be the worst part, and Annie herself said leeches weren't ever really an issue when she was in the swamp, from what I could tell in her diaries. We should be through and in the clear in no time...worst case scenario, we camp in the swamp."

Just about each one of us shudders at that last utterance. We look at each other a moment.

"Lemme guess..." I say "...Leeches?"

They all nod in response, which sends another shudder down my spine. "Well...let's just do what we can, ok? We'll...we'll be fine!" I say, getting a bit of determination.

"True. Just hope that's not a way I want to go." Weiss says, turning to the chess board, then moving one of her pieces. "Check." she says. Blake turns, then moves one of her own pieces, taking Weiss's just-moved piece "As I thought you would...now _you're_ in check."

"Well played..." Weiss says, putting her chin in her left hand, then drumming her right fingers on the table. I turn back around with Yang, towards the TV screen. I sigh a moment, only to suddenly see a controller in my face. I turn and see Yang giving me a smile. "C'mon, Ruby. It's paused. You can join in on co-op if you'd like..." she says, trying to tempt me. I slowly take the controller, look at it, then the boss mutant on the screen. After a second, I gain a fierce look of determination, then set the controller in my lap, crack my fingers, then pick the controller back up and roll my head to crack my neck. "Alright. Let's go, sis!"

"MAY THE STREETS BE COVERED IN BLOOD AND BLUBBER!" Yang responds back to me, a sinister grin on her face.


	16. Chapter 13

"NO."

"Aww come on! Really?" I wine.

"NO." Yang said stern.

"Just because I did better than you on that level and I never played before?"

"YOU DID BETTER THAN ME THE WHOLE TIME WE PLAYED LAST NIGHT!" Yang scoffs "All you do is play that game with the freakin' bird and the bear!"

"You _KNOW_ it's a great game."

"Ok, but _still_ -"

"You two don't really get the point of this, do you?" Weiss says. The four of us sit at the base of the same coastal waterfall near cragg's. There are five stones here almost perfectly aligned along the base of the crashing falls, and sometimes we'd sit on these rocks, let the water pound on our backs, and clear our minds. I was sitting on the left, Yang on the right, Weiss and Blake between us. We'd been going on like this for a little bit, after I got tired of sitting there with my eyes closed. "Trust me, I do!" I say, defending myself "it's just...well...i wanna get going! I'm tired of sitting here."

"How long _has_ it been?" Yang asks. Blake, who'd been completely fine with the bantering of Yang and I, opens her eyes now, and checks her implant. "Actually, Ruby has a point. We'd been here about fifteen minutes."

"Maybe that's why i'm starting to look like a prune with a six-pack." Yang says, looking at the undersides of her feet. We slowly stand, then head towards the shoreline, as we dry off, then change into our flak-metal gear. Our pets have been waiting diligently nearby. While the herbivores seemed to be peacefully grazing nearby; Bari was, as usual, trying her luck at fishing. Meanwhile, Ember seemed content with watching Monarch rile up the other Maccao for no apparent reason. The Maccao were bouncing around, chortling, and full of energy. I stood next to Ember, slowly putting myself onto her saddle. "Been getting them all stuirred up, hasn't he?" I ask Ember, who seems to chortle a response, then stand. It takes the others a few seconds to get on their respective mounts as well. When that's done, we begin heading towards the area on our map marked as the "footpaw". Following Annie's notes, Blake is our main navigator. She's up front with me, leading the caravan. Weiss, Monarch, and the Maccao pack are in the middle keeping things in line, Petra and Gamuto are towards the back with Quru, and Yang with Blade ends up being the caboose of our train, bringing up the rear. Slowly, we proceed past the area where Blake and I had our swampland adventure. The fallen cyprus tree is still there, now with moss growing on it's fallen trunk, slowly being "absorbed" by the ground. As nuch as I enjoy looking around at nature...i'm quickly getting bored. I look around at the environment a little more, and I sigh.

"Oh boy." Blake said. "That sounded like a bored sigh."

"Yeah sorry...I mean this is all cool and all but..." I sigh. "...anybody know a travel song or something?"

"I am NOT singing the ever-annoying '100 whatever of whatever on the wall' crud!" Weiss responds. I sigh "Ok...then...anybody...maybe know a game or something?"

"How about keep your eyes peeled for the route up ahead and making sure nothing rushes us from the front?" Weiss responds again with a bit of smile...but strangely enough the smile is one telling me "Hang on there Ruby." as if she knows how bored I am. I sigh, then look back ahead. "To be honest..." Blake says "We're on the right track...So I can pretend to be navigating if you want to do something to pass the time." she says with a smile. I sigh. "Ok...ever heard of 'what's behind the Green Glass Door'?" I ask her.

"Not quite...how's that one go?"

"I say stuff that works behind the green glass door and you've got to guess."

"Oh, ok. So it's basically a word game?"

"Mm-hm. When you think you got it, you have to say one back to me."

"Alright..."

"Ok...so behind the Green Glass Door, there's streets but no roads. Behind the Green Glass Door, there's mommies and daddies but no parents. Behind the green glass door there are apples but no fruits. There are also books but no shelves."

Blake pauses a moment. "...ok just to help me clear my mind. I've got two ideas...there's either students but no teachers; or wheels with no cars."

"The latter is true."

"I thought so. If that's the tragic case, there are Grimm but no hunters."

"There be huntresses though."

"True. There's also bass but no fish."

"Balls but no sports."

"Weiss but no Ruby."

I make an annoyed face. "Kitty but no Blake."

"Ow." Blake says with a smile.

"So...do you know any jokes."

"...more riddles if anything. But I did read up on something interesting in Annie's notes."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, one of her tribemates got his left arm and leg bitten off by a megalodon."

"Woah, really?" I say shocked. Blake nods "Mm-hm. Annie said thankfully he's all right now, at the time."

"Ah, well, that's good." I say. A few seconds later I blink a few times quickly. "Wait... Ohmygod. I get it..."

"Heh...I'm not even going to lie, she wrote that in her notes and then explained later it was a joke. I laughed to myself when I read that."

"I bet. Hey, it's better than the anti-jokes Yang finds funny."

"Anti-jokes?"

"How do you fit 100 babies in a box?"

"...something tells me i'm going to regret this."

"Use a blender."

"...totally right on that." Blake said shaking her head.

"Wanna know how you get them out?"

"No but I have a feeling you'll tell me anyway."

"Nachos."

"Dear lord..."

"It's Yang. I worry about my sister sometimes, granted the things she finds funny."

"Babies in a blender? Why wouldn't you?"

"I don't know, she's Yang."

"True...do _you_ have any jokes?"

"...nope, not something that isn't something Yang told me."

"I have any joke Yang tells you is full of poor taste and innuendos."

"Yep."

"Alright...know any riddles, then, Ruby?"

"I got...one."

"Hm. Wanna hear one from me?"

"Sure."

"I fly like a bird, not in the sky, which can always swim and always fly. Say goodbye at night and morning hi, i'm part of you: what am I? I follow and lead, as you pass. Dressed myself in black, my darkness lasts. I flee the light, but without the sun, your view of me, would be gone."

"Hmmm...that's your shadow, isn't it? That last part kind of gave it away."

"True. Yours?"

"Mine's a bit more funny."

"Fire away."

"So a man lives at the top floor of an apartment complex. On sunny days, he takes the elevator halfway up, then walks the rest of the way. Yet, on rainy days, he takes it straight to his floor. Why?"

Blake...seems legitimately perplexed. "...huh." she said. "That...hmm...so he..."

Blake keeps thinking about it as we head on. I'm actually amused I stumped her. I give her time to think as we keep going a bit more. About an hour later, we enter a fairly large clearing in the swamp. I take a moment to look around. "...looks safe." I say. "You guys wanna stop here for a quick lunch?"

"Sounds like an idea to me, so long as we're on course." Weiss replies. Blake checks her charts "We are. About an hour or so and we'll hit our crossing. The redwoods are fairly close, so we should be ok. I'm game for a bit of a break, and I think the animals are too."

"I'm not one for getting saddlesore." Yang says, sliding off of Blade. "Lunch break it is. We should be able to see anything charging in fairly easily."

"True." I say, dismounting Ember. "So, who brought the campstove?" I ask.

"I did." Weiss replies, walking up to me with it in her hands. "it's got some fuel in it already, so we should be ok."

"Good, i'm getting hungry." Blake replies. We let the animals rest while we eat lunch. After that, the four of us head alone, leaving our animals back at the clearing, a little bit farther, just to scout ahead. Each one of us wears our color-coated flak, as Blake checks her map. We stop along the riverbank for a moment.

"...ok, so...about...fifty minutes or so that way, we'll hit the swamp crossing Annie used, before we step onto the Battleground."

"Battleground?" Weiss asks.

"It's the spot of clear shore right after the swamp crossing, between the swamp and redwoods. Annie named it that because she said it's rare she doesnt get in a fight if somebody passes through due to the local wildlife. On the carnivorous spectrum, there's meganuera, sarcosuchus, beelzebufo, titanoboa, carnotaurus, raptors, dimetrodon, and terror birds there roaming the shores at any given time. While the dimetrodon and beelzebufo are passive, they'll hit back if struck. Then you've got the herbivores: Paraceratherium, Stegosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus who will all hit back if struck. Not to mention Direbears and Gigantopithecus who'll hit back if you hit them, or get too close for their comfort. Annie said it takes literally just ONE death of a wild animal for all hell to break loose. If the carnivores have killed anything, that will have the Meganuera in a frenzy. Regardless, you'll be too busy swatting them off to notice the approaching slew of carnivores. If you hit anything else in the midst of that fight, herbivore or carnivore...you get where i'm going. It just turns into one massive...well, Annie used a bit more vulgar vocabulary, but-"

"she probably called it a 'clusterfuck', didn't she?" Yang said with a grin. Blake rolls her eyes. "Yes, she did..." she sighs and shows us on the map. "Ok, here we are...here's the swamp passage, and there's the Battleground...we should be able to fight our way through no problem, if need be. You all get it?"

"Nothing we can't accomplish already!" I say with a smile.

"I'm not one to shy away from a good fight." Yang says. "Plus all the resources and materials would be nice."

"As long as you know what you're doing with those maps." Weiss says.

"So we're all in aggreement, then?" Blake asks.

"Yep!"

"Sure!"

"Of course!"

Just then there's a fourth voice of confirmation...or, more like a hiss of one. We quickly turn and notice...one of the large fallen logs we were standing next to wasn't a log...but a large brown crocodile: between the sizes of Gustave and White Fang, long legs like White, but a more rounded, taller snout. It's jaws look absolutely vicious, with large, interlocking fangs. We jump back upon seeing it, but it doesn't react...it just sits there, seemingly ok with us. "...is this another...nice carnivore?" Weiss asks. Blake quickly checks through one of Annie's smaller books. "Granted the appearance and the name I can see..." she quickly flips through the pages. "Ah, here. It's a Quinkana...yeah, they're fine with people so long as they aren't attacked...they mainly seem to live on a diet of other carnivores."

"Other carnivores?" Weiss asks. "How does it do that?..."

Suddenly there's a familiar shriek from behind us...i know that shriek. Utahraptors! There's a pack of three charging at us. We back turn with our backs towards the Quinkana and pull out our weapons. The raptors seem ready to pounce at any moment, but then the Quinkana lifts off the ground a bit and shuffles forwards a few steps, hissing loudly. The raptors immediately stop, and back up a bit, as if hesitating. The Quinkana continues a low, deep hiss. The raptors, however, don't exactly seem keen on backing down. After a few minutes of a standoff, the Raptors charge. I hear what sounds to be a quick inhale and then-

 _ **BOOM!**_

I don't know what happened, but there's a loud sound, a blast of wind, and we all go flying. I land about five feet away on the dirt, and it takes me a moment to start getting up, There's a ringing in my ears, and I feel a bit stunned. Slowly, I take an uneven stand on my own feet. I look around and see Yang on her stomach, slowly getting up. Blake was, ironically, thrown up into a tree by the blast. Weiss lies on her back in a small puddle of mud. The quinkana is between our two groups, Weiss and Blake on it's left, Yang and I on it's right. It stands there fine...with three dead raptors in painful positions after being thrown by the blast. "Ok...ow, what the hell was that?!" Yang asks. Blake jumps out of the tree she was sent flying into. "Ok...can anybody even hear still?" she asks, and we all nod. "Ok, sorry...but the ringing is more than four times as bad for me...but...Annie wrote here... _Quinkana clamosus is capable of delivering a powerful sonic blast, similar to that of a pistol shrimp, but on a thirty-five foot long crocodile-sized scale. This is due to the animal's powerful, strangely-shaped jaws, which vaguely resemble the enlarged claw of a pistol shrimp. Before attacking with it's blast, Quinkana often hisses as a warning, before taking a quick, massive inhale of air to create a vacuum, then slamming it's jaws shut, to create a powerful sonic boom for close-range devastation. My fellow survivors and I have heard these sonicbooms for more than a mile away, and people standing next to a Quinkana equivalate the sound to a jet-liner taking off._ "

"You're telling me!" I say, rubbing my ears. "I don't want my ears to start bleeding again!"

"At least you didn't fall in a damn mud puddle!" Weiss says, slowly standing. "I bet my hair's a mess!"

"Ok, but hey, isn't mud good for your complexion?" I ask. Weiss turns towards me, her back to Blake.

"Ok yeah, but generally that's your skin."

"Oh...?" I then note...Blake's face...her eyes are...showing that she sees something that terrifies her. "Blake?" I ask "What's the matter?" Yang looks at Blake as I says this, and Weiss turns around

"Blake...i don't think I've ever seen you this pale." Weiss says, concerned. "You're whiter than a sheet. Are you ok?"

I...don't think I myself have ever felt this white. Yang's got the same look Blake and I now have, since we can now see Weiss's back. I'm frozen from what I see. Weiss turns, and sees me and Yang like this. "Hey...now you guys too? What is it? Does my hair really look that bad from falling in a mud puddle?" she tries to look over her shoulder...and sees her reflection in the swamp water...there, she sees, attached to the back of her flak chestplate...a large, two foot long Leech.

" _ **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**_

Weiss screeches at the top of her lungs _**"Get it off!**_ _ **GET IT OFF!**_ " She panics while flailing wildly. I rush over to try and help her, but Weiss's flailing isn't helping. She smacks me in the face with her hand as she flails wildly. Yang runs over and grabs Weiss's arms, holding her arms to her sides while Blake also runs in and helps grab Weiss. Weiss panics, stamping her feet in place as I come behind her and take one of Blake's Final Gambit into my hands, turning it into it's bladed form, and pry the blade between Weiss's Flak and the mouth of the giant leech. With Weiss flailing and stomping on Yang and Blake's toes over and over nonstop, much to their – especially Yang's – annoyance, I don't have much of a stable grip...so i'm forced to grab the giant leech itself as an anchor. Strangely, it's not exactly slimy...it's hard. It's skin is a flexible layer of keratin! Not that my observations matter right now. I find out, to my dismay, the best place to get a firm grip is just behind the leech's head. I hang on tightly to the invertebrate, before I suddenly pry it free from Weiss. The thing wasn't able to pierce her metal armor in the slightest, as I throw it into the mud. Weiss screams once again, flinging us all away and taking Blake's weapon from me, turning it back into pistol form, then unloading a full magazine on the leech, before then stomping it into oblivion. The three of us sit there, dumbfounded, as to what's just happened.

"uh...Weiss... I think you killed it." Yang said "Like...really...really killed it." she says, looking at the pile of mush that was once a leech. Weiss shudders, not even offering a response. Blake slowly reaches out "...can...I have my weapon back?"

"...huh? Y-yeah...sure..." Weiss says, stepping back and giving Blake her sword back...nearby we see the entirety of our pets, having ran over to assist Weiss after she screamed...and they're also giving blank stares of "what the heck did we just see?"...meanwhile the Quinkana stares directly at Weiss with a very annoyed stare...Weiss looks around a bit, noticing she's the center of all this...

"Ok...really...really...awkward..." she says

"...you'd make a great Scream Queen." I say, after blinking twice.

"...my throat hurts now..." Weiss replies, rubbing her throat. "Like... I think I might loose my voice..."

"Granted as a singer you probably weren't used to a note _that_ high." Yang says, putting her hand on Weiss's shoulder. "You going to be ok?"

"Maybe..." Weiss squeaks...yeah, her voice has gone down, sounding a bit hoarse. I smirk "Well, at least it didnt get through your flak, now did it?"

"thank god..." Weiss replies low. I just then notice Blake staring off into oblivion in into the swamp.

"Hey, what's up now?" I ask. She points out into the swamp water. "over there...in the water. Do you see it?"

Off in the distance, in the swamp water, there's something large patrolling away from the shore...it's a bit longer than Bari, and is black in color, having quite a few spines...or even plates, on it's back. It patrols just offshore, eyeing us from the water. "...what's that?" Weiss asks, putting her hand above her eyes to try and reduce glare. Blake takes a minute or two to fumble through a few field guides. She finally speaks.

"Oh. Gojirasaurus."

Yang turns "Wait... _Godzillasaurus_?!" she says with a mischievous grin.

"Yes and no. _Gojira_ _saurus._ " she replies. "It does mean Godzilla lizard, though."

"...what's it doing out there?" I ask.

"Annie notes Gojirasaurus being one of the island's 'super rares'. It lives in the swamplands, often deep within them. Their diet mainly consists of other predators, so they're harmless to people. They often find their prey by heading towards loud commotions in the swamp, which are often caused by hunting carnivores...it's an incredibly territorial creature that picks fights with other predators and often wins...otherwise, it just peacefully patrols the swamp."

We all look towards Weiss again...Weiss puts her hands on her hip and stomps. "Well it wasn't just me!" she says, her voice still coarse. "The crocodile caused a commotion too!"

The Quinkana seems to give a low growl in response to that.

"Weiss, I've been to loud rock concerts, seen and heard airships when they take off..." Yang says, putting her arm around Weiss again. "And even if the Quinkana can create a sonic boom...i can 100% guarantee you did a _super_ sonic screech."

Weiss, annoyed, shoves Yang off her shoulder and steps to the left, causing Yang to fall down in the mud...oh no. Weiss huffs "You really know how bad I feel right now with this throat, and you're gonna mess with me anyway?...what's wrong with you?!" Yang...slowly, gets up...there's mud in her hair...and she's not happy. Her eyes are red, as she slowly stands, her angry gaze locked onto Weiss. Weiss's eyes widen. "C-cmon now! I didn't mean...I mean, you don't wanna...there could be other leeches!"

Yang's still angry, her head is visibly shaking. Weiss backs up a step, her foot now sinking ankle-deep into the mud of the swamp. "I mean, like...you'd only be getting more mud in your hair, and what if the Gojirasaurus thought you were a predator and-"

Too late.

With a primal scream, Yang tackles Weiss into the mud.


	17. Survivor Note 3

Day VII

Finally, solitude. I had gone five whole days without rest. I was on the brink of collapsing at any minute...then I saw something. A young Brontosaur, being attacked by Dilophosaurus, with no parent in sight. I made the decision then and there to help the young creature, and successfully killed it's assailants. The hatchling was very friendly, even seeming thankful, to me. It refused to leave my side at first, which worried me, until the mother came. Apparently, she had seen the whole ordeal. The hatchling went back to his mother, and, for some reason, I felt like I should follow him. So, I did. I followed the hatchling and his mother back to their herd, where I actually felt...safe. Being late in the day, after sunset, they slowly began to lie down together, sleeping. I didn't know if I was allowed to stay around still, or not, so I began to leave, walking by the hatchling's mother...imagine my surprise as she grabs me with her mouth and lifts me into the curl of her body, which shields the hatchling and his siblings, and sets me next to him. Turns out, she refuses to let me leave her protection. I...couldn't believe it. I finally had an opportunity to sleep, and I took it. I don't know how long i'd been sleeping until my worst nightmare came back to haunt me. A simple snap of a twig was enough to wake me in time to see the open mouth of a Deinonychus- the big one- directly in front of me. I screamed as loud as I could, which woke up my adopted family...especially my adopted mother. Strangely my adopted siblings rush to my aid, biting and shoving on the alpha deinonychus. That gave me enough time to leap up onto my adopted mother, who by now was rising to her feet with a roar. She grabs the deinonychus and...with full force put into her neck, throws my mortal enemy very far away. The other Deinonychus arrived soon upon hearing the shriek of their leader, but they are quickly dispatched by my rampaging family...it feels like hours, but it was probably only five minutes...my new family has rid me of my the fiends that have stalked me...soon, I was once again resting among my siblings...and truly, this...was the most peaceful sleep I've had in a very long time...at least I have a family to call my own.

Day XXIV

I've been living my life with my family ever since. I've built a special structure using light materials that fits onto the back of my adopted mother, that I live in. She seems perfectly ok with it. I haven't had to worry about most threats, save for the occasional Tyrannosaurus, however, no single member of my family has died yet in the whole herd, with me doing my all to protect them. I'm quite literally what any attacker doesn't seem to expect, and I feel somewhat privileged to have the situation I do. I travel light for the ease of my adopted mother, and I quite enjoy my nomadic life...that was, until I saw...HIM. Far bigger than even my adopted mother, yet...surprisingly Docile. I've been leaving my family time and time to observe him... recently, I made a sort of whistle which I can use to mimic the calls of my adopted family to communicate with them. I've tried to do similar with the giant which I have given the name "Zeus" to. After several failed prototypes, I finally made one which he seemed to respond to. I don't think he even knew what to do with something so tiny as myself...but he noticed me. I visited him time after time...getting him used to me. Then...one day, that THING came. Bigger than even the Tyrannosaurus I've seen, yet still, smaller than Zeus. Even for a walking mountain, I could tell Zeus was in trouble...so I assisted him against what might have been the most terrifying creature I've ever fought against. Zeus seemed to actually...know I was helping him, and after killing that massive predator, he grew very fond of me...even Tyrannosaurs dont bother with Zeus...and he's friendly enough. I truly do love my adopted family...but Zeus offers even more protection.

Day XXVII

I've made the decision. It was hard to get my adopted family to understand...especially my adopted siblings, but they eventually allowed me to leave. I tore down the structure atop my adopted mother's back, and began to leave...strangely enough...I began to cry. I've lived among those Brontosaurs for quite some time... I think we've gotten a bit attached to each other. Oh well... They'll always have a place in my heart. It took me about an hour to find Zeus again. A simple blow of my horn, he responds...and to my pleasant surprise, allows me onto his colossal back. I've already set up here...and Zeus enjoys my company. There's plenty of clutter between his mountain-like armor plating, and he seems relieved that I often clean it out for him. As much as I'm going to enjoy Zeus's company, and vice versa, the nomad life can only last me so long. I'll need to find a permanent place to stay. I must say, though...living on Zeus's back is quite literally living on the top of a walking mountain.

I guess that's why he's called a Titanosaur.


	18. Chapter 14

Every time I look back at Weiss, she's got this eternal pout that's simply priceless. Yang on the other hand is feeling better, her hair cleaned and back to normal. Once again we're back on the trail to the Redwood Forest. I've been taking in the sights of the swamp when Blake trots up next to me on Bari. "Hey Blake." I say. "What's up?"

"...I'm stumped." she says.

"Oh? On what?"

"Your riddle. I've ran over a lot of options...nothing I can really think of makes sense."

"So you give up?"

"I declare defeat."

"Ok."

"...so what's the answer?"

"To the riddle?"

"Yes, to the riddle."

"Oh. The guy's a little person. He's a midget."

"..."

"Because of his height, he can only reach half the elevator buttons. But on a rainy day, he has his umbrella, so he pokes the top floor button with it."

Blake stares at me for a few solid seconds, then smirks and shakes her head, before putting her hand on her face and laughing. "Wow...that's...wow."

"I read it in a riddle book." I say smiling proudly. "It had a bunch of crazy riddles in it."

"You should tell me more of them sometime."

"Definitely. How close are we to the crossing?"

"That's it, right here." Blake says, pointing. In front of us, a small slope which leads down to a grove of Cyprus trees. "We just head through that, and we'll be out into the battleground."

"Want to brief the others?"

"Sure."

I pull on the reigns a little to get Ember to stop. Blake does similarly to Bari, and I turn around and give a sharp whistle at the others. Yang tilts her head. "What's up?"

"This is the Cyprus crossing." Blake says. "We just hurry through, then we'll be in the Battleground. We'll be really fortunate if we don't run into anything on the way through. Annie said in her notebooks it was rare the area wasn't riddled with carnivores or other already fighting creatures."

"Whatever happens, we'll tear 'em up!" Yang says. "Heck! I'll get off Blade if I need to and deal with some predators personally!"

"You've been very eager to be violent ever since you got him." Weiss notes.

"Actually." I chime in "she's been prone to violence ever since I gave her Primal Conquerors."

Yang snickers. "What can I say? You can't keep the huntress's spirit outta me!"

"That's just a scrapper's troublemaking spirit." Weiss replies.

"Don't make me throw you in the mud again."

Weiss shoots an ice-cold glare at Yang, who returns a mocking, smirking jeer of a glare. I sigh "Can we just please focus on the matter at hand?"

"Sure." Yang says. "So, be prepared to get into a big fight, right?"

"Likely." Blake says.

"All right! Let's go!" Yang says, to which Saber gives a war-roar in agreement. I shake my head. "Alright. Blake, you first, or me?"

"We'll go together. I'll be right behind you."

Ember and I are the first in. Bari and Blake follow close behind, the others keeping suit. Poor Petra's sow low to the ground she can barely lift her head above the water, and actually ends up swimming in water I could walk through. I feel bad for the poor girl. She's so pffffft like a pancake, she's not meant for this. We make our way through the cyprus trees...finally we see the light ahead. I'm bracing for whatever I might see on the other side...but it's bizarrely quiet. Maybe something's just waiting for us to come out. Finally the light floods my eyes as we exit the Cyprus grove. I open my eyes expecting to see an abundance of predators...but I didnt expect this. There's nothing but dead bodies everywhere. Blake's the next one to see the massacre of animals, then Weiss and Yang...there's so many dead bodies. I see Titanoboa...raptors...dilophosaurus...carnotaurus...some lythronax...paracers, even...sarcosuchus...beelzebufo...stegosaurus...dimetrodon...scorpions...it's a completely dead wasteland of corpses. I've...never seen so much sheer death. "G...guess we missed the fighting." Yang says, completely shocked.

"I..Is it this bad in Annie's notes?" Weiss said, surveying the sea of dead bodies. Blake slowly shakes her head. "...not this bad usually. I almost wonder what caused such a fight."

"L...let's just get out of here." I say. "This is giving me all kinds of creeps."

We begin to make our way through the field of dead bodies...yet as we go, we can't help but have our eyes wander, and survey the damage...that's when I notice something. A Carno...it's skin is strangely black, and hard. Then I look over to a nearby Lythronax...it's feathers are gone in some spots. A large portion of bodies in the same area seem to have such black...burns on them. "Hey..G-guys?" I ask.

"What?" they respond

"W-what could have burned...four...six...eight bodies in the same spot?" I say, pointing. They look over that direction tho the charred corpses. "...I don't want to stay and find out, if that IS burning." Weiss says. We quickly keep moving on... I see something that makes me stop Ember once more...There's a body of two dead stegosaurus...one looks like an adult mom, the other, a juvenile, possibly male. The mother's body lies motionless on it's stomach, slumped to one side, while the child rests directly next to it, looking at the head of it's dead mother. It's...well, as if they died together. I shake my head, getting that scene out of my head...but then I see it. The juvenile's chest is _moving_. The young stegosaurus is _breathing_. It's wounds are heavy, but somehow, it's still alive. I'm not the only one who's noticed. The others have too. That poor young Stego...it just stares at it's mother, as if hoping to get some sort of condolence. Something to let it know "it's going to be ok", something, anything, to comfort it. I can feel myself about to cry...then I see something. Blake raising the longneck rifle I made for her. I quickly grab the top of it and push it aside. "What are you doing?!" I demand.

"Ruby, it's the humane thing to do."

"No it's not! You were going to shoot it!"

"Ruby...it's in a lot of pain." Weiss says. "It's best just to end it's suffering."

"But if we help it, It'll be ok-"

"No it won't, sis. Look at that gouge in it's side." Yang tells me.

"But Sans had one, and now he's all better!" I exclaim, exploding in tears.

"Sans had one on his thigh. The poor thing has a gash almost half a foot into it's side. It's probably hitting lungs or something else." Blake tells me. "Ruby...I'm not trying to be mean, but sometimes, you can't save everything."

"B-but..." I stammer "It...It's just a baby!"

"...well-"

"Would you kill a puppy?!"

"..."

I stare at Blake, but then I see Weiss raising something. "DON'T DO IT!" I say to her. I lessen my grip on Blake's gun, and she tries to take the opportunity to yank it free. I quickly re-assure my grip. "Sis, please." Yang said. "Do you want to make it's suffering stop, or just walk by and let it suffer on?"

"I...I..." In a flash, I'm off of Ember, and i'm nothing but a red blur as I dash up to the young stegosaurus and throw my arms around it's neck. "It's not fair!" I say bawling into it. "It's not fair!"

The others simply stare at me...and it seems that the juvenile seems...shocked, that it's actually getting some sort of affection. Yang slowly climbs off of Blade, then gets on one knee alongside me, and puts her hand on my back, between my shoulders. "...you have a really big heart, sis." she tells me. "You really do."

Weiss sighs and looks over at Blake. "To be honest...why's she so nice?"

"Is that something wrong?" Blake asks, lowering her rifle.

"Well, no. I mean... I guess it's just rare."

"Especially back home in Remnant, it feels."

"You'd think Ruby's so nice she's just had it all bottled up for years with nowhere for it to go."

"Well...She's a kid, in many regards. She's got a very strong sense of what's right...she's got a lot of hope in her, that's for sure. I think all those stories she's read have rubbed off on her."

"Not that that's a bad thing. I mean...the fact the youngest one of us all can remain standing while the rest of us..."

"...are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"...likely. I feel like Ruby would be the one to last longer than...well...at least, me."

"What makes you say that?"

"Like...everything. All the time's I've been with her throughout knowing her. You know I'm on to something when I say that Ruby is...well, she's a living heroine."

"Just like her storybooks. To be honest... I agree with you. I feel like she could definitely last longer than me. Despite the age gap... I feel myself being inspired by her, often, in many different ways."

"To be frank, me too." Weiss says, folding her arms. "and although before I might say 'don't dare tell her that'...well, I'm stuck with her good now. So I...wouldn't exactly mind."

"perhaps soon there will be the time to let her know." Blake replies. "Regardless...as for the source of Ruby's innocence...it's likely an exact mystery as to where it originates. Maybe it's her youth, her childlike demeanor...I don't know. All I know is that I appreciate it."

"But, I mean...like, she doesn't even know this stegosaurus, and now she's acting like it's Zwei about to be put down."

"It _is_ just a child. That, and Ruby does love animals."

"I guess so. Maybe though Yang will get Ruby to understand."

"Possibly. I don't want the poor thing to just sit there dying, though."

Yang slowly helps me to my feet. I look over at the young stegosaur's wounds. Now that I'm up close, I have a better look at them...and they aren't actually too bad. They aren't deep at all. I sniffle, then point to the wounds. "It's not that bad." I say "It's really shallow when you're up close."

"She's not lying." Yang says "I mean...now that I'm up here with her."

"Let me see." Blake says, putting down her rifle and dismounting White Fang. Weiss dismounts Monarch and walks over with Blake. Blake takes a moment and looks over the young stegosaur's wounds. I watch her with nervous anticipation of what she's going to say. Finally, she sighs.

"I'm sorry." she said. "They're fairly shallow, and they've already started healing. The poor thing's just exhausted."

"S...so are you saying-"

"Yes, Ruby. He should be ok."

I give a sigh of relief, then look towards our intended destination. The towering trees of the redwood forest are so close. "Is it too much for us to take him with us?"

"He won't be going anywhere anytime soon without a bit of extra energy. If he stays here, the scavengers are bound to get to him."

"So we'll give him a kick with some stimulant!" I say, reaching into my inventory. "i have some on me."

"I've got a few medical brews, too..." Weiss says, checking her own. "They could help."

"Let's make sure we can get him up and moving, and soon." Blake replies. We then try to help the young stegosaur onto his feet. His plates are a crisp, faded green on the interior, and a crisp white along the outer edges. Due to the fact it reminds me of mountains, I named him Taiga. After feeding him a few stimulants and some healing brews, we try to get him onto his feet. It takes him a few tries, but he finally stands. I'm relieved, and I hug him around his neck once more. Now just to get him to follow us. However, that seems like not much of an issue. As I turn to go back to Ember, he's right there glued to my side. I find it somehow adorable. Looking towards the redwood forest, I make sure everybody else is ready before we continue on. The redwood forest is unlike anything i've ever seen. The canopy darkens the floor below, and the redwood trees themselves are huge. I can hear the wind whistling through the trees...and the entire environment is soothing. I keep finding myself looking up into the canopy, as the light filters down through the trees. I give a relaxed sigh. "I wonder what it will be like when we're in our treehouse." I say. "I bet the view will be even more breathtaking."

"Likely." Blake replies. "There's...just really something humbling about these trees, isn't there?"

"There really is." Weiss says. "And to think these huge trees come from such tiny seeds."

"Nature's awesome." Yang chimes in. "When it's not trying to tear your face off."

We continue along, through natural game trails we can find, deeper into the woods. I'm starting to think now we should have brought the dimorphodons with us. They likely would have helped, but I guess less mouths to feed while we settle a new area is a good thing, too. We continue our trek through the forest...then I see something familiar. Deer! Three of them, ahead on the left. Two females, and then one male that has an absolutely massive set of antlers. I can make them out as "Megaloceros". From what I vaguely know about dinosaur names, sounds like it means "Great Horn", and for good reason. Those antlers are huge, and very majestic. The male watches us intently as we pass by. Weiss herself seems to take particular interest in them. I don't blame them: they're very majestic looking animals. As we follow the trail...we come to a beautiful mid-sized pond within the redwood forest. Sunlight filters down through the trees to dance upon the crystal-clear water, which is stocked with both coelocanth, and those strange Sabertooth Salmon. I can hear a collected sigh of awe from the four of us, and I lead Ember down by the water, then dismount. She bends down quickly to take a drink from the clear water, and the other pets follow her example. I look around quickly a moment...and my eye focuses on this one, large, sturdy tree nearby. I smile "hey, you three?" I call to the others. "What's up, sis?" Yang asks, after having bent down and splashed some cold water on her face.

"You three still have those crossbows and grappling hooks I gave you?"

"Yeah, I do." Yang says.

"I do as well." Blake replies, putting her crossbow over her shoulder. Weiss nods "Me too. Why?"

"Come with me a sec. I want to try something."

I take them over to the base of the redwood tree that catches my interest. I pull out my crossbow, load a grappling hook into it, then take careful aim at the redwood tree. I then pull the trigger, and the arrow flies up and into it's designated location high in the tree. "Think you three can aim yours at equal height?" I ask. They nod, and sure enough, they get their hooks at the same general height as mine. Once I make sure I'm secure, I put my feet on the tree and begin to slowly climb my way up. The others follow my lead, as we slowly climb higher and higher into the tree. I stop once I'm almost at the end of my line...must be about 75 feet or so up in the air. I then, after making sure I'm well secured, turn around and look over my shoulder. "So, what do you think of this?" I say smiling. They turn around, and the view of the pond and forest from up here is breathtaking. "This...this is incredible." Weiss says. I nod "Yeah! Like, picture this. We're standing on the deck right now, looking out to all this. Then we run a bridge and another platform to over there, a little lower, on that tree, and then another over there. We put the main house here, then maybe build like...a pagoda or something on the other one so we have a large outdoor deck place we can relax at, then the third...we'll figure it out! Maybe a guest house or something."

"That...actually works." Blake says. "I can see it. This tree's the perfect spot for the main house. When it's all said and done, I might not want to ever leave and go back to Cragg's."

"It's just really cool here, isn't it?" Yang says "I mean, heck. Might as well be a second home, and not just a base."

"We're gonna be here a while." I say. "So it might as well be."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Weiss asks. "It's one in the afternoon right now. Sunset is at seven. We've got six hours to make this place even slightly hospitable."

"Alright. Umm...Howabout Weiss, you and me work on using wooden pillar walls to fence off the area, and establish a perimeter. Yang, you and Blake start work on the house and platform?"

"Sounds like a plan to me." Weiss replies, and the others agree. After repelling down the tree, we quickly get to work. Weiss and I start using Gamuto to fell trees for wood, while Yang and Blake use the premade materials to begin working on the main platform. Weiss and I quickly get the materials we need for enough fencing and a dinosaur gate. We're quick to put those up, enclosing the pond and a large enough area for stables for the pets. That's a relief: No unwelcome visitors. Plus, it only took one and a half hours. I sigh, taking a break with Weiss for a couple moments by the pond. There's a log right next to the water, and we relax by sitting on it and dipping our feet in the cool water. "So." I say. "I finally thought of what to do with that third platform."

"Oh?"

"Going to need a workshop, aren't we?"

"Ah, true. You sure you'll want to lug all those materials up there?"

"Maybe we can get some sort of primitive elevator going or something. It gives the platform a use, doesn't it?"

"Maybe we could figure out a stair system or something." Weiss replies. "at least, for that end of the decking, since it's the lowest to the ground."

"Yeah, likely."

"HEY WEISS!" Blake hollers from the platform up top. Weiss huffs and turns, hollering back "What do you want?"

"We need a third person up here for a moment! Do you mind?"

"Coming!" Weiss huffs, before putting her shoes back on and heading over to the platform, and beginning to climb a rope ladder up to the top of the platform. So that leaves me to...find something to do. I groan out loud, not wanting to start on my workshop quite yet. I take a few more minutes to relax before a sound grabs my attention. To my left, really close...it's like I can hear something drinking. I look down and to my left...sure enough, there's a bird...weird bird. It's like a mix between a dinosaur and a bird...and I know this one: Archaeopteryx. It's kinda big too...and at first, it doesn't see me. Then, it catches a glimpse of me out of the corner of it's eye, while it drinks. The little creature freaks out, jumping and flapping it's wings frantically while It turns around in a screech, beginning to run away. For some odd reason...heh. I snicker and chase after it. The little guy starts running towards a nearby redwood tree, likely to scamper up it and out of my reach. I then decided to try something i've never done before. I take out a Bola and begin to wind it up...one time while Weiss was trying to teach me to use it I actually bonked myself in my head while winding it up...I quickly try to give a rough aim, and throw it at the little guy. It looks like a bad through, but it winds right around the little guy and trips him just as he gets to the tree. I carefully pick up the bound bird, who struggles in my arms.

"Floofy little fella." I say to the azure dinobird, who continues to try and thrash out of my grasp. I sit back on the log, putting him in my lap. "Noooo..." I say as he keeps thrashing. "Bad boy. Don't do that. That's not nice." I keep petting him and trying to feed him little pet treats that I made with Weiss a while back...he's just so traumatized...strangely enough I have an idea. I cross my right leg over my left, and with the Archaeo still in my lap putting up a defiant show, I take my right boot off and take off my sock. I know birds like ostriches calm down when you put a bag or something over their head...maybe this will calm down the little guy. It takes a moment, but I finally get my sock over his head and he stops thrashing. I sigh in relief...and then the little guy goes limp in my lap. I'm completely shocked, and quickly take the sock off his head...he's out cold. Wait...I take a second and...OH GOD! A single distant whiff of my sock, and i'm questioning if my feet really do smell that bad. I mean...He...is kinda tranquilized now...so...I mean, I don't even know what to think. I'm so...in shock and weirded out that my feet are that bad. I ponder a moment...hmm. What would work for him? He does look like a little carnivore, maybe some...no, he doesn't like meat. Nor does he like the little treats I made. I sigh and look through my inventory...i have various tidbits...hide...keratin...fiber... chitin...wait...chitin? Something tells me to try that, strangely enough...and sure enough, he enjoys crunching down on some chitin. I'm completely confused, but I guess if he eats bugs, it kind of makes sense. I put my sock back on, as well as my boot, and simply wait...sure enough the little guy wakes up. I take a moment to pet him, and due to his feathers, I name him Azure. I look at him for a moment, then check the dossier to read up on him. I read through...and then I see it. Are you serious? This little guy can do that? I'm beyond excited when I read this. I quickly close my implant and look directly at the little guy. He looks up at me with a sort of smiling, friendly look. I smirk, then pick him up. "Alright little guy. You're gonna entertain me for like...a solid eternity now. Let's do this." He chirps at me, as I stand then run off to execute my master plan.

"One, two, THREE!" Yang says. The wooden spiral staircase lifts off the platform floor as Yang supports the whole thing using just her sheer strength. Weiss and I quickly dive under to try and make a few brief adjustments to the stair and floor. I recall back at the dance in beacon, Yang was able to lug around speakers like it was nobody's business. I know she can support this stairwell easy, but I still don't want to leave her hanging. Weiss and I quickly make the minor repairs, and then I help Yang set the stairwell back down. Yang sighs "That was actually a nice workout" she says, stretching "should have went for a jog carrying that thing."

"Quit the bragging." Weiss says. Yang simply smirks. "Aww c'mon. You've got to have a little fun on the ARK. Let me have my fun."

"You've been having your fun." Weiss says "not that encourage you to stop. I just hope you'll save it for the right moments."

"Whaaaaatever." Yang says, plopping down onto the wooden floor. "Alright, so, all we need is a buttload of crystal and then we've got the window wall done, basically. The actual house itself is coming together. Just need to rig a lot of the appliances. Might just be a husk...but it's a husk we got done in like...what, two hours?"

"Thank goodness for quick-build placement." Weiss huffs. I give a light smile, then turn to Weiss "What were you and Ruby planning on doing next?" I ask. Weiss shrugs "Ruby was contemplating making her little...workshop on the third platform. What do you all say?"

"Help us with this first." Yang says, abruptly laying on her back on the floor with a thud. "This is getting exhausting. Then we'll return the favor."

"Sounds ideal."

"Speaking of Ruby, where is she?" I ask. Weiss goes to the edge of the platform. "She should be right down...no she's not." she says stepping back a second. "Huh. Well she's somewhere here."

"She better not be slacking off or something." Yang says, as she slaps her hat over her head. Weiss sighs "I mean, she worked hard with me too, ya know."

"I know, I know."

I sigh, then call out. "Ruby! Where are you?"

there's no immediate response.

"Ruby!" Weiss calls. "Ruby Rose! Where are you!?"

"Up here." she replies...and her voice doesn't sound to enthusiastic. I look across the pond, and up in another tall redwood, Ruby sits on a small off-branch ledge, dangling her feet off...but she must be about a 125 feet up! Weiss scoffs "Ruby Rose, what are you doing?"

"...thinking." she says solemnly. "When you left and helped them I got to thinking."

"About what?"

"...there's no adapting to it." she said. "When I think about it...I can't help but...i mean, we're not going back home. We're never going back home. We're the only ones on the island, too."

"...Sis..." Yang says, slowly sitting up. "I thought we already established that, and you told us"

"I lied." she said. "Little kids lie. I'm not ok with it. We're gonna do all this work for what? To "survive"? I mean, ok, ARK's going to keep us alive and well so long as we prosper, but I don't want to live forever partially alone on an island that's constantly trying to kill us. I love Ember, I really do...but she's not Zwei. I miss Dad, Yang. Don't you? Uncle Qrow?...There's nothing for us here. Maybe it's all just a simulation or something."

"Ruby..." I say. She's not really thinking about jumping, is she "Come on, now. You'd tear us apart if you..."

"Sis..." Yang says, slowly standing "I swear if you..."

"If I what?" she says, looking at and past her own feet, to the forest floor far beneath her. "...If I jump? I mean...Isn't it better than...A really long time of struggling and heartbreak?"

"Ruby, please." Yang says. "Things will get better. I don't know...why you suddenly thought of this, why you're acting like this...please, Ruby, just...hang on. We're going to be OK. There's nothing on this island that's got a shot in the dark against us. After all...Ruby, loosing you...it might as well kill me. I don't know if I could live without you."

"...you don't know if you'd live without me?" she says, looking directly at Yang. "...you think loosing me would die if you didn't have me?"

"YES! RUBY YOU'RE MY SISTER, YOU'RE ALL I'VE GOT LEFT RIGHT NOW!" Yang screams. "PLEASE, FOR GOD'S SAKE, JUST COME DOWN!"

Ruby looks at her kicking feet a moment, then sighs, and stands, holding the trunk of the tree.

"You'd die if...i died." she says low. "This island wants us dead anyway...so I'll save you too." Ruby steps right off the edge. Yang screams out and rushes forwards as Weiss and I do. I rush out to try and get to her like the others, but my foot trips over somebody's crossbow, and I end up tripping Weiss in the process. The two of us hit the platform, which causes Yang to briefly stop and look back for a fraction of a second. I look up expecting to see Ruby's either crushed or falling body-

I don't see anything. None of us do. The three of us look around perplexed and frantically, while Weiss and I rise to our feet. "RUBY?!" Yang hollers out. "RUBY?! RUBY!?"

There's a response to Yang's calling...but it's not Ruby. It's a high-pitched, brief animal call. Almost like a bird. Then we hear it again. We look up and-

…...

Ruby's floating down at a surprisingly slow pace...by holding onto the legs of an Archaeopteryx; which flaps its wings, carrying her and itself down slowly out through the sky. Weiss has a perfectly perplexed look, and immediately upon seeing it was a joke, and the ridiculousness of Ruby's "Hang gliding", Yang busts out laughing uncontrollably.

"HAH! GOT YOU!" Ruby says as she kicks her feet while she and the bird descend through the sky. Yang's crying as she laughs. Likely from the joke, and the fact her sister isn't actually going to commit suicide. I can't help but smile. "How'd you find him?" I ask. Ruby smiles back "He wandered in so I tamed him using unorthodox methods!"

"Unorthodox methods?" Weiss asks.

"Stinky sock KO!" Ruby calls back. Yang dies even more upon hearing that, while Weiss's humored perplexity simply increases. "I swear to god..." Yang says out of breath. "If you can control it..."

Ruby seems to look around a moment, then moves her shoulders to the left...and lo and behold, she and her Archaeopteryx start flying away from us. I think Yang's died multiple times because of this. I sigh "Get over here!" I call with a smile, and she slowly changes her direction, gliding in a large curve around our tree, before she's fully lined up. She's safely around 18 ft above our platform before she lets go, dropping to the ground as her Archaeopteryx flies to the tree trunk, then scampers down. Yang immediately springs up with a laugh and locks ruby in a headlock, giving her a noogie. "Don't ever scare the shit outta me like that again!" Yang says laughing, and out of breath. Ruby laughs back "I won't! But seriously! Once the dossier told me that was what they were used for, I just had to give it a shot!"

Ruby's Archaeo walks up right next to her, and Ruby picks him up like a little dog. "My partner in crime: Azure. Say hi!"

"More like, MINE." Yang says, snatching Azure from Ruby's grasp then leaping off the edge of the platform with him held over her head. Sure enough, she starts gliding from the height of her jump to the ground safely. Yang laughs again and kicks her feet playfully as she glides through the sky. I sigh "I guess it's 'everybody have fun with the Archaeopteryx' time. You guys have fun. I'm going to the Red Peak."

"You don't want to take Azure for a spin?" Ruby asks

"Oh I will, and thanks for sharing, but i'm going to hike there and get some crystal for us."

"Alone? You going to be alright?"

I cross my arms. "Ruby. Me, in a dense forest like this, needing to worry about not being safe?"

"...oh yeah." she says, then crosses her arms. "Alright. Just...well, you know, take care of yourself. Even if this place is a ninja's dream."

"I'll be careful." I say, packing up my gear. "I'll be back soon, alright?"

"Okay!"

I climb down the ladder and head out of our secured area, closing the gate behind me. I keep my eye out anything that could want to cause trouble, while admiring the redwood forest. I move quickly, climbing, running, and maneuvering through the undergrowth. As I head into the clearing I spot something that stops my rapid advance. On the opposite end of the clearing...a Direbear. It looks down to the earth beneath it, grazing from roots and berries. It's an absolutely huge creature, much bigger than I am tall. I'm downwind from it, so hopefully it won't notice me. I move around the perimeter of the clearing, sticking to the trees and foliage. It's a lvl 32 female direbear...and she seems alert. As if she's looking for something, or looking out for something. I keep sneaking along, entering into a bush...and run right into a direbear cub. It must be a month or two old, and looks absolutely adorable. This must be what the mother was looking out for. Making sure her baby was safe. It looks up at me with a strange, friendly smile and gives an adorable little growl. I flinch a moment, and after making sure the mother is none the wiser, I crouch down and pet the little guy a few times. He sort of wrestles with my arm as I do. He's such a friendly little thing. I'm still downwind from momma bear, thankfully, so I quickly drop a little piece of meat for the cub and keep going. I try to make a brisk pace away from them...but the little guy follows, romping right behind me. I realize this is a terrifying situation: the mother bear could charge at any moment. Suddenly, she sees me, and does just that; roaring and charging at me at an incredible speed. The entire ground shakes from her footfalls as she sends her massive body hurdling towards me. I immediately use my semblance and dodge into the nearby bushes and leave a copy of myself behind, beginning to run. The mother bear falls for the trick, and stands on her back legs to look around, after attacking my decoy. She then turns around again, back on all fours, and begins walking away, expecting her cub to follow. Finally out of the clearing, I turn and look back at the mother as she walks away, her cub giving this disappointed look of "aww, where's my friend?". He looks around and spots me again, but I glare back at him with a look of "follow your mother". He seems to get the message and gallops back after and alongside momma bear. I continue up the mountain, until the redwoods finally begin to become more sparse, leading to a bare mountain-top. It's mildly chilly, here. I can see a few stegosaurs...then there's a pack of raptors chasing a poor Megaloceros. There's also some ankylosaurs nearby, moving as a group of five alongside the slope of the mountain. I continue my way up the mountains, following a rocky pathway farther up. The view from up here is incredible, and I feel like I can see the majority of the island from here. I continue to walk the path, keeping an eye out for crystal. Everything seems fine, when suddenly there's a hiss and my right foot is grabbed, and I fall forwards onto my stomach. I look back- Pulmonoscorpius! It's succesfully ambushed me from between a few rocks, and tries to steady my leg into being an easy target for it's potent sting. My pants protect me from the scorpion's claws giving me any dosage of it's tranquilizing venom, and I fumble for my hips, where I hold Final Gambit. Yet reaching for them causes me to use my arms, which were my main method of pulling away from the scorpion. It quickly brings it's stinger down onto my leg, and I scream in pain as I unhook Final Gambit and start firing both guns profusely at the giant arthropod. The sudden volley of painful projectiles causes it to let go and back up, hissing in the pain as it fumbles backwards in shock and disarray. I quickly run up and stomp-kick it in it's face, which sends it off the ledge and down the cliff to the rocks below. I huff, and check my leg. The stinger might leave a welt, but I should be fine. I'm a little dizzy from the narcotic poison, but I shake it off and move on; at a more brisk pace to hurry on up and get this done, then get back home. After a minute or two, I finally find some crystal. I sigh, and then pull out my own pickax. I'm not ridiculously strong like Yang, but with a bit of work I should be able to harvest it easily. I start swinging away, with good results fairly quickly. The crystal begins to break, chipping off into collectible parts. Over ten minutes I successfully harvest three various crystal formations. I pause a moment, wiping the sweat from my brow, as I stand towards the last remaining formation. Just then, I hear something that freezes me in my tracks and sends a huge chill down my spine...a loud, tremendous roar of a colossal creature. It's distant, coming from somewhere off to my left, either further up the mountain, or on the other side of it. This terrifies me down to my very soul. Is it a Tyrannosaurus? I don't want to find out, and quickly take care of the last crystal formation. I sigh and quickly check my inventory as I pack everything away...that should be enough. Just then, I hear the sound of small rocks sliding down, as if disturbed by something moving...but what startles me is it came from my _right_. Something's stalked its way very close to me, within fifty feet of my current location. I quickly pull out my electric prod, even if it's a one-shock use. I stand alert and ready, my ears trying to locate where this creature is. My prod is armed and crackling with electricity, ready to send volts of electricity ripping through something's body. My feline ears are working to desperately find this creature...and I find a telltale sound I can track: breathing. I can hear whatever it is breathing as it stalks me. It's a low, quiet breath, which confirms my fear of being hunted. I try to pinpoint this clue. Where is the damn thing?!...then I realize.

It's right behind me.

A loud bang rips through the air as Ruby's shot misses its target. She lies on her stomach, atop the platform. Weiss is on her left, trying her best with her own bow to assist; and I also wield my crossbow to try and shoot the Amphicyon below. There's a pack of three of them that noticed us atop our platform from outside the walls, and they've been pacing back and fourth, snapping and growling at us while looking up at us. They seem to be trying to figure out how to get up and over the walls and to us...and they either shrug off or avoid our projectiles. Ruby's rifle shots from Ancient Rose are really the only thing they cant avoid, but she still has issues with getting the shots to land. Weiss huffs "There's a reason I hate the hell out of these things!" she says, missing another shot. "They're just as bad as Grimm!"

"At least they don't seem to common." Ruby says, pulling the trigger. This time she hits a bear-dog's right shoulder, ripping through it and shattering it's shoulder blade. However, the bear-dog still stands, almost ignorant of the pain, like the monstrosity it is. I've always been a more close-combat person...but Ruby insists fighting three of these things alone is a no-go. I have to agree i'm a little bit hesitant, because i've seen what these bear-dogs can do. I mean, yeah, i've fought off two Ursai alone by myself, but I don't exactly know how to compare that to three bear-dogs. "Can we still talk about how Blake's been gone for about an hour and a half?!" I say "I mean, what if she comes home while these guys are out here, or if something happened?"

"We'll deal with it, no offense." Ruby says. She tries to pull off a second shot...but her gun jams. She stares in a complete look of horror at her own gun, and shakes it a second. "I...my gun jammed...I...wow...wa..."

I'm in just as much shock as my sister. "...Your weapons never jam." I say "Especially the weapons you hand-make!"

"I blame ARK!" Ruby says quickly, then rapidly trying to figure out the issue with Ancient Rose. The Bear-dog seem to know something's up, and turn even more aggressive, jumping at the walls. I'm starting to get a little desperate, worried about them breaching the walls. Yet my mind is also racing about Blake. She's been gone that long, and we haven't heard from her. The Bear-dog farthest back seems to be trying to calculate how fast it needs to go and how high it needs to jump to try and clear the wall. It shifts it's weight from one side to another as it paws the ground and prepares a leap. I take the opportunity to aim my crossbow, right at it's skull...but my right eye catches something in my peripheral that catches my attention. Something quickly closing in, and whatever it is, it's big, and FAST. It's charging right at the unsuspecting Bear-dog. I quickly focus on the new blur and then I realize...It's Blake, and she's not alone.

She rides bareback on top of a sabertooth tiger!

Blake's pitch-black battle cat roars at it leaps onto the unsuspecting Bear-dog and sinks its absolutely huge fangs into the creature's neck as Blake sends a blade of Final Gambit into the bear-dog's skull, killing it. The remaining two Bear-dog turn around and roar at them. Regardless of the risk or not, I leap down from the platform with Primal Conquerors ready. I punch the ground with enough force the shockwave throws the two large mammals into opposite directions. I continue by leaping at one Bear-dog as it's back slams into a tree. Before it can even retaliate, the claws of Primal Conqueror on my left arm pierces through it's skull and pins it to the tree. I uppercut the Amphicyon with the free claws of Primal Conqueror on my right arm, embedding those claws in it's skull, and then pulling the trigger on my right arm gauntlet's lower gun. There's a loud bang and there's a splatter of blood which sprays onto me as the bear-dog is killed. As this has been happening, Blake dismounted her sabertooth, and the two of them double-team their larger opponent. The single bear-dog can't keep track of both of them, and gets cut from everywhere because of their attrition. Suddenly there's a loud bang as the bear-dog lurches to one side and onto the ground. Blake's sabertooth immediately jumps onto it and sinks it's sabers into the bear-dog's skull, killing it. We look up, and sure enough, the shot came from Ruby and Ancient Rose. She smiles, folding up the gun as she looks at us "Sorry! Stray tranq dart left in the dart chamber!"

I sigh as I rip my claws free of the dead bear-dog and sheath them. Weiss and Ruby leap down from the platform, and the three of us head over to Blake and her sabertooth. Her saber lets go of the Amphicyon, then walks next to her and begins to purr and rub against her leg. She smiles and pets it back, as if it were a giant lap cat. The whole creature is black in color, with darker stripes, an even darker mane, and bright green eyes. I smile "Ok, so is he why you took so long?"

" _She_ was." Blake says, still petting the sabertooth. "Onca here tried her luck at ambushing me while I was mining...worked, in part. Sorry I didn't bring my radio to tell you."

"She's beautiful." Weiss says, admiring the sabertooth. "May I?"

"Sure. I don't think she'll mind."

Weiss pets Onca, who enjoys the added affection, but stays devoted to loving on Blake. Ruby bends down, taking out a large slab of cooked meat that we use as treats for the carnivorous pets, sometimes. It's about as big as her hand, and she holds it out to Onca, who takes it happily. Blake smiles "I think she likes you guys." Blake states "And Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

"You're right. I absolutely love Onca."

"You looked _perfect_ riding her in like that!" I say, to which Ruby agrees excitedly. "Yeah! I told you you'd do well with a sabertooth!"

"Well, Sabertooth is the pop culture name for them, and it's not the most accurate. The technical term for it, the true name, is _Smilodon_ , which means 'knife tooth'. According to the dossier, whereas real _Smilodon_ were _Smilodon fatalis_ , Onca here is a _Smilodon brutalis._ It fits, quite well...those claws on her paws are very sharp. They actually make great work for flaying corpses for hide."

"Morbid, but works!" Weiss replies. Ruby scratches Onca's chin. The large feline then stretches out like a large cat, bending down and stretching it's paws forwards, before delivering a pleased growl. "She's quite literally a large lapcat, so i've found out the hard way." Blake says.

"How's that?"

"I would have been here earlier, but despite my urgency to want to leave the mountain, she made herself at home on my lap."

"pffft." Ruby says. "Nice."

"Urgency to leave the mountain?" Weiss asks. "Why?"

"I heard the roar of something large up there, coming from the other side of the mountain. Wanted to get down as fast as I could...but Onca ended up changing those plans. I mean, I guess I was just lucky, the creature went away, or...i don't know."

"Still, you've got a Saber. Or...Smilodon. Whatever!" I say smilng with a shrug. Blake sighs "You can go ahead and call it a Saber, or Sabertooth, just know that not all Sabertooth are cats."

"Wait, what?" Ruby asks. Blake smirks "Incoming brain hurt. The Smilodons fit into the clad _Machairodontidae_ , which are your general sabertooth cats. However they can fit down into true _Machairodonts -_ or _Smilodons-_ such as _Machairodus_ or _Smilodon._ Some don't even have huge knife teeth like the former, but still have sabers, like _Lokotunjailurus_. Other prehistoric big cats like _Dinofelis_ or _Xenosmilus_ are technically related to _Smilodon_ , but not exactly saberteeth. However there are what's known as feliformes, which are very distantly related to cats. Those are the 'false saber-toothed cats'. Similar to Gustave being a 'not-a-croc', true false sabertooth are 'not-a-cats'. This includes creatures like _Nimravus_ or _Barbourofelis_ , which had saber teeth. Then there's a really strange family of animals from another part of the world, _Thylacosmilidae_ , which was a group of catlike, sabertoothed marsupials. The main species for that group was _Thycalosmilus_ , who I read was most likely rendered extinct by none other than the true _Smilodon_."

"...that's cool." I say bluntly, impressed by what I've heard. Blake nods "It's weird how taxonomy works...but it's interesting, to say the least."

"Well yeah, but that's not what I meant."

"Oh?"

"I mean you! You're so damn smart about all this!" I say, gesturing to Blake. Weiss nods, and Ruby jumps up "Yeah! I mean, you're so smart because you've read about dinosaurs, and you're learning from Annie's notes and stuff, and like...it's just so cool how much you know from all your reading, and it makes you really cool to talk to!"

Blake...seems pleasantly surprised by this. She even seems a little embarrassed, turning a little red, and looking down at Onca a moment. "Oh, ah...well, thanks! Really."

"We _really_ mean it, Blake." Weiss says. "You offer a lot of insight, and it's really helpful!"

"...again, thanks." She says looking up at us. "So...shall we head inside before we get attacked or something?"

"Sure. Welcome back home, Blake." I say. "You had us worried."

"Again...sorry I didnt bring my radio." She says sincerely, as all of us, including Onca, head back into the perimeter of our base.


	19. Chapter 15

Once inside our base we start work once more. As Blake and Yang finish the house, Weiss and I start working on my workshop. It's easier to construct than the house, so we get it done quickly, and I set up a smithy inside. From there, I start hammering out Blake a saddle for Onca. By the time I finish that, they've finished the house. All it needs is to be furnished. We'll leave that primarily to Weiss. I pack the saddle for Onca in my inventory and walk across the platforms and rope bridges to the house, and open the door. The first floor layout is nice and open...it looks like something humble out of a fairy tale. Open space from the kitchen to dining room and living room, with a spiral staircase leading up to our sleeping loft in the second floor. There's chairs, tables, even a comfy couch...and a hammock hanging near the large glass wall nearby. Weiss has a small notebook open as Blake and Yang seem to be setting up something under the sink.

"Electricty?" Weiss asks.

"Solar panel, check." Blake says from under the sink. I think she and Yang are fixing pipes.

"Piping?"

"Fixing the leak, but everything is is go!"

"Bedrooms?"

"Aye!"

"Bathroom?"

"Of course."

"Kitchen?"

"Rigged and i'm laying on my back in it's floor!" Yang says.

"Alright. I think that's about everything." Weiss says. She flips the notebook closed, and Yang emerges from underneath the sink. "Fixed the leak. Hopefully that works."

"Wow guys. This looks nice!" I say, as I admire the room. Weiss turns to me. "Well thank you. Offhand crafting has it's benefits, doesn't it?. Makes things so much quicker. Have you seen upstairs yet?"

"Nope."

"Take a look." she says, motioning to the spiral staircase.

"Alright."

I head over to the spiral stairs and walk my way up. There's small windows along the top of the octagonal room, as well as hammocks and beds. It looks really comfy and warm...and there's another fireplace up here, too! I take a look around, and I see a bed tucked against the wall to my left...I'm sleeping in that one. I crawl up into it, and it feels really comfy. The entire loft up here feels like a nest. I'm tempted to fall asleep...but suddenly, I hear my sister.

"YO, WHO LEFT THE BASE DOOR OPEN!?"

I spring to my feet, and fly down the stairwell. Yang's out on the balcony, hands on the railing, looking down towards the ground. She's joined by Weiss and Blake. I run up behind them, expecting to see something terrifying...but nope. It's a Paracer. A solid lvl 60 male, with a brownish coloration, who's wandered in out of curiosity. He stands still, right under our platform, curving his neck to look up at us. It's somewhat funny we're actually taller than he is. I give a relaxed sigh. "Ok...that's not too bad. But I agree with Yang. Who left the door open?"

"Not me." Blake says.

"Not me either." Weiss says

"Wasn't me, I know that much." I say. We all stare at Yang. She throws her arms in the air. "Yo! I flipped the dang switch!" I sigh. "Well, Yang come with me. We'll check the gate. Weiss? Blake? Do something with our new neighbor."

"He's a solid level. Might try taming him passively." Blake says. "Don't want to violent-tame something like him inside base."

"Good luck with that." I say. Blake smirks. "Oh, don't worry. I have an idea."

"Oh?"

Blake takes out a grapple hook, and rigs it to the platform floor, before stepping over the railing and hanging upside-down, eye-level with the Paracer. "Maybe you wont ignore me if i'm at eye level with you, big guy." she says, before taking out a little bit of what looks like Kibble. "What kind is that?" I ask

"Pachycephalosaur, like Annie's notes said."

The paracer stares at her a moment, then eats it out of her hand, then continues to stare at her with a face that, although neutral, seems annoyed. I always found that funny about Paracers...they always look grumpy. I take Yang down a rope ladder and we go to inspect the door. We flip the switch...the doors dont respond. I look at the wood and pully mechanisms we have inside it...i huff. "One of the wooden rods split!" I say to Yang, who huffs. "Great. What now?"

"It's a quick fix. Have any extra wood on you?"

"Yeah. One piece, though."

"One is all I need."

She hands me the wood and I make a quick fix, replacing the broken wooden rod with the piece of wood Yang's given me. I step back. "Ok, now try." Yang pulls the lever again, and this time, the doors respond, closing behind us. Yang sighs in relief "good. Don't know what else is in these woods. A friendly paracer is one thing. Angry carnivores is another."

We turn back to Blake, who now hands rightside-up, still attached to her grappling hook. "Thinks working ok for you?" I ask.

"He's friendly enough. But I feel all the hanging around is going to start hurting soon enough."

"But aren't you a ninja?" Yang asks.

"Even ninjas can only hang on for so long."

"Ah."

"But you're a _kitty_ ninja!" I say.

"Ruby." Blake says sternly. "That only means I like fish."

…..i bust out laughing at that response. I love the fact Blake's becoming more open and friendly. The paracer starts to wander around the base a bit...almost as if trying to meet the pets and check out his new home. Blake undoes the grapple line and drops down to the ground. Weiss follows suit, and we walk up to them. "So" I say "Name for the new guy?"

"If it were a female I'd suggest Seqouia." Blake says. Weiss pauses a moment, before suggesting "Parry". I sigh "Too normal...or not creative?"

"I told you im not good with names." Weiss rebuttals. Yang suddenly smiles, and snaps her fingers. "Yo. Big Pappa."

"Big Pappa?" I ask.

"Yeah. I mean, why not?"

Blake shrugs. "I guess that works. Now, quick question."

"Hm?" I respond.

"Anybody have any other plans for today?"

"Not that I know of. I think we've done enough."

"Nothing's coming through the walls." Weiss says. "Why do you ask?"

"I feel like enjoying the treehouse for the rest of the day." Blake responds. "Anybody else?"

"Me too!" I say happily. Yang and Weiss agree. Blake nods "Alright. Let me put the saddle on Onca, and I'll join you."

Finally free for the rest of the day, we enjoy socializing and dinner inside our treehouse home. We make sure to check on and keep feeding Big Papa, and soon enough he's placid enough to us to be called tamed. When night falls, we all turn in upstairs in the sleeping loft. Sure enough, everybody's found their own little spot up their they claim as their own. After a bit more conversation, and some writing in my memoirs, I turn in for the night.

The following morning is pretty easy. Weiss is in the kitchen making breakfast. Yang's already up taking a shower, and Blake's in her hammock reading a book. I stretch and yawn, which notifies her to my waking.

"Good morning, Ruby." She tells me. I smile groggily. "Hiya. Dang, this place is cozier than I thought."

"It is, isnt it? I've half a mind to call it a vacation home."

"Might as well be. I mean, not as big or fancy as the place back on Cragg's, but it makes sense!"

"Mmhm."

I take a closer look and see Azure nestled in her lap. I smile "He seems to like you, doesnt he?"

"I think it's simply the fact I'm in the hammock." she says. "Which reminds me. He and the other pets got really antsy about something earlier."

"Oh?"

"A lot of the pets shifted away from the entrance this morning. Maybe a carnotaur or something was outside."

"Maybe. I'm still in my fiber pajamas, and yang's taking a shower. Mind if I go take a look?"

"Go ahead."

I stretch a moment, before switching into my flak-metal equipment, and heading downstairs. Weiss sees me and smiles.

"Hey you. Off to do something before breakfast?"

"Oh, morning Weiss. Blake told me about the pets getting nervous this morning. I just want to do a quick check."

"Best to make sure it's nothing. I made some pancakes that will be done in a moment. Be back in time for them, alright?"

"Ok."

I head out of the house and climb down the rope ladder. With Ancient Rose out and ready, I slowly head up to the gate and open it, then slowly peek out...hmm..nothing that I can see. I take a couple steps out...maybe this huntress needs to actually play tracker and see about finding any clues...maybe footprints? I take a few steps around, looking for clues...I walk forwards, but then my left foot ends up stepping on air, and I stumble into a hole in the forest trail. Ow, my ankle... oh well, it wasnt a bad fall. Why is there a hole right here? There wasn't one when we got here!

...wait.

I completely freeze up...and look around me. This isn't a pothole. It's a footprint, almost as big as I am tall, almost past my ankles in depth...something BIG was here this morning. Then I see more tracks. They come from south, from within the forest. It's almost as if the creature sized up our fence, and stopped...staring at it to figure out what it was, before moving on...but likely, sensing our animals inside. I can see big footprints alongside our walls for a bit, before they turn and head towards the Red Peak. This terrifies me. I quickly run inside, and close the gate behind me, and fly up the ladder, busting inside as Yang, Weiss, and Blake are enjoying breakfast. Yang scoffs with food in her mouth, and swallows.

"Yo, what's up? You look scared."

"I...Kinda am." I say. "Something BIG was outside the gate this morning. And it left tracks. BIG ones."

"You're joking?"

"No. Do you need to go see?"

"...Hey, Blake?"

"Yeah?"

"Think we should?..."

"Ruby needs to know." Blake says, wiping her mouth after eating.

"I need to know what?"

"As I said we were all awake before you...and we got a message on our implants."

"Wait...a message?" I ask.

Blake holds up her arm and taps her implant, reading the message.

" _Tribe 'Team RWBY'. Success rating: positive. Survival Threat: Moderate. Dealing with threat. ARK Difficulty increased from .45 to 1. Maximum level of wild fauna specimens has been increased to 120, to support deadly encounters to eliminate moderate threat Team RWBY. For sake of data and other methods, tamed creature levels have been increased to deal with and equal those of wild animals. IE: Tamed specimen tamed prior that was level 45 will now be equivalent that it was tamed at level 90. Team RWBY threat: Active. Analyzing risks of lost data if RWBY is exterminated. Currently positive benefits outweigh losses."_

I stare at them for what feels like a few moments. "...why did nobody tell me earlier?"

Blake sighs. "Did you want me to say 'Hello Ruby, good morning. Just to let you know we just got a message saying the ARK is out to kill us'?"

"I...I mean, ok, I get not the best way to start the day, but somebody should have told me!"

"We were, once you woke up more." Yang responds. I grow a bit irritated "Are you guys just...like, nonchalant about it all?!"

"What? No." Weiss said "It's just...well, nothing's really happened. All that really means is that the wild animal levels have increased, as have our own animals' levels. Stronger tames, and...well, yes, more dangerous threats."

"Why are we a threat though?" I ask. "Blake? Any ideas?"

Blake folds her hands and rests her chin on them. "...not that I could think of." she says. "We're doing what the ARK wants. Surviving. That is...unless we're surviving too much? Maybe some of the renegade Overseers put new formulas in the ARK to keep survivors from progressing too much...does that make sense?"

"Basically not wanting us to look like them, right?" Yang asks.

"As far as I could guess..."

"Well...it also said more encounters with dangerous life." I say. "Something big was outside our gate."

"You want to track it down?" Weiss asks.

"Just to be safe. Who's to say it won't come back?"

"Well, alright. Have some breakfast first?" she says, motioning to my spot at the table. I sigh "Weiss, they look great, but i'll wait for the pancakes, ok? Shove 'em in the fridge. I'll shove trail mix in my mouth until we get back."

"Alright. I understand." she says, taking the remaining food to the fridge. I wait a moment for the others to dress in their armor before we venture out on foot. Just outside the gate I show them the massive footprints.

"I tripped into this one!" I say, pointing at the one I stumbled into earlier. "Look, see? Something was scoping us out!"

As Yang closes the door behind her, the others walk up and Blake examines the footprints.

"Bipedal, that's for sure." she says. "Unlikely an herbivore. Especially with a foot pattern like this...there's a lot of weight being put down into these footprints. It's something heavy...likely, a large carnivore."

"This almost looks bigger than that Spinosaurus." Weiss says, with a bit of hesitation. "Definately bigger than Sans, for sure..."

"Look at the footprints." Blake says. "From San's own prints...I'm estimating something at least two or three times his size."

"Sans is about as big as a Carnotaur!" I say "What's the size we're talking? Sixty feet?"

"More like seventy to eighty." Blake says. That sinks in for a moment...Yang speaks "So...there was...an eighty foot long predatory something scoping out our base this morning?"

"All evidence points to it..."

"Why didnt it come charging through the walls then, all 'GRAAA! GET IN MAH BELLEH!', then?"

"You should be thankful it didn't. Not asking why it didn't." Weiss states.

"Well yeah, but still. If it's THAT big it could have crashed through our walls."

"Maybe scent wasn't enough to keep it's interest." Blake said, turning the way the footprints lead off to. "But I don't feel too comfortable knowing that thing's out here."

"Me either." I say. "And it knows where we are. We need to go deal with it."

"Couldnt have said it better myself." Yang replies. "I kind of like my ARK-life..."

"Living with Dinosaurs is really cool..." Weiss says "But I mean...you got situations like this that always remind you of the danger-"

Weiss stops in her tracks as a massive sound booms through the forest...it's a roar, a loud one. I quickly look at Blake. "Is that the same roar you heard yesterday?"

"No." She says quikcly. "That was...deeper. This is a different pitch...and it came from.." her ears quickly try to pinpoint the noise, then she points ahead of herself to the left. "There. It came from that direction."

"I'm not turning into Dino Chow anytime soon! Let's get this thing!" Yang demands. I quickly nod, and we all start running through the forest. What exactly is this predator? I don't know any dinosaurs that got as big as this creature. Then again, these dinosaurs have all been altered...what if it's been supersized? We run through the woods for about ten minutes, following what sounds like an altercation in the distance...what if the predator's hunting? We keep to the bushes of the forest floor and trunks of the redwoods, trying to stay out of the creature's reach and sight. I burst into the clearing, and the first thing I see is a very bloody, very exhausted Paraceratherium. It looks like it's about to die from bloodloss at any minute...and then, stepping into my view from behind a redwood tree...the predator. A large, dark red body with black markings on it as well, and grey-colored armor plating on it's feet, back, and body. Then...there's that head full of massive, sharp teeth...and two tiny arms. I know what this is, long before I pull out my spyglass, which confirms my fears.

 _"Wild Female Rex, level 116"_

"It's a t-rex!" I say, calling back to my team coming up behind me. "It's a Tyrannosaurus!"

They rush up out of the forest to my side. Weiss is taken back. "That's no T-rex! That thing is almost twice as big as a real one!"

"That's a Tyrannosaurus, regardless." Blake says. "Shape of the head, the tiny two-fingered arms...that's a Tyrannosaur. No doubt about it."

"I...Kinda wish I'd taken back what I said about riding a T-rex." Yang says. "I mean...Look at it. It's huge!"

"According to Annie's notes though, they ARE tameable." Blake tells us. We quickly fixate on her.

"Wait, they are?"

"It's not easy to bring one down with Narcotics...but it's possible. People back before Armageddon did it all the time, apparently. We just knock it out then use one of the Test Meats on it. Should work. You'll get your Rex, anyways, Yang. Or...whatever this Tyrannosaur is."

"uh...i guess I need to be careful with what I ask for." Yang says a bit hesitant, but I can see her bouncing on her feet. I smirk nervously "I can see you, Yang...you're getting amped, aren't you?"

"I really am, but at the same time, like...aaaaaagggghhh! It's like...freaking nervousness or anxiety or...let's just knock it out, alright?"

"One thing though." Blake says. "From what I remember reading...Tyrannosaurs are decently fast, but only in a straight line. They can't make a sharp turn...so stay way from that mouth."

"Weiss, I think this is a good time to try the narcotic injection edge I gave you." I say. Weiss looks at Silver Needle, then nods. "Alright. Guess it will be as good an attempt to test it if any." she says nervously. "Where do you think the best injection sight would be?"

"Go for it's thigh." Blake says. "Should be plenty of muscle there and you should avoid vital organs. If you can get a full dosage in, that might help."

"One vial's the equivalent of about twenty or so darts." I say as Weiss takes off the normal blade of Silver Needle, and begins to attach the injection edge. "We'll give you an opening to use it."

"Please do. But how?"

It takes me a minute, but I snap my fingers as I watch the Rex grab the paracer by the neck and wrestle it to the ground, killing it. "That's it. Rex are supposed to be really top-heavy, aren't they, Blake?"

She immediately gets my plan. "From what I recall. If we can knock it on it's side, it will have a hell of a time getting back up."

"Ok. Howabout this. Blake, help me get it so we can give Yang a good shot of it's flank. Yang, try and punch it in it's side. I know you don't have the same force without Ember Celica, but you're our best hope at knocking the rex over. We'll try and get it set up right so when you come in it'll trip. Weiss, that's your que to go in after, alright?"

"Just knock it down, Yang, and I'll be fine." Weiss says, finishing her weapon change. Yang starts breathing heavily. "Ok. Yeah, sure. I'll try. I am like...super sayan, I'll give it a shot. Hope I don't break it's leg..."

I put my hand on her shoulder. "You got this, sis. I know you do."

"Thanks, Ruby." Yang says. "and, to be honest...good luck on your suicide mission."

"Yeah I dont want to get close to that thing either, but..." I say a bit nervous, and Blake huffs. "I know, I know! Sorry!" I respond to Blake. Blake smirks. "Alright. I'll toss you Final Gambit and we can use the wire to help trip her. As long as we're all on point, we should be fine."

Blake and I slowly move forwards as Yang flanks right, and Weiss left. The Rex is busy tearing off huge chunks from the Paracer and swallowing it whole. There's so much blood...it's so sickening to watch...as we draw closer, even if my determination and fearlessness rises...I can't help but be intimidated by it. We're fairly close to it now...Slowly I raise Ancient Rose, a dart loaded in it's chamber... I do need to get it's attention, after all...and I fire. The dart flies out of the barrel with a pop and embeds itself into the back of the Rex's right leg, near it's tail. The entire dinosaur stops moving, then slowly, almost annoyed, turns towards us in place...being this close to the Tyrannosaur in the wild...I can say for one thing, it's Big...and terrifying. It simply stares us down...and we don't move. It lifts it's head up slowly, and I can hear it doing a very slow inhale...then, it thrusts it's head down, opens it's mouth, and lets out an absolutely terrifying, deafening roar at close range, directly at us. I can feel the wind rushing from it's mouth and even feel it's saliva land on me. Yet, Blake and I don't move. The Rex closes it's mouth from roaring and eyes us down, expecting us to run from it's roar...nope. Instead, Blake shoots a dart at it that hits it right in the nose. It seems to look at the dart for a few seconds, then us...

Suddenly those massive jaws open again with a roar and are rushing towards us. Blake and I both quickly dodge out of the way in opposite directions as the creature's massive jaws slam shut where we once were. Another dart from me, and the Rex turns it's attention to me on it's right, roaring and lunging at me once more. I dodge right underneath it as Blake runs up it's left flank and tosses me one of Final Gambit. I grab it and pull it tight as the Rex continues to charge forwards above us, and we both pull tight. It's right leg catches on the wire, and the Rex stumbles forwards with a roar of pain...taking us with it! Blake gets thrown to the ground and I get thrown off to the left. The Rex stumbles forwards, but retains it's footing. However, I hear a buzzing noise...Yang. She's figured out how to give herself the boost she needs, swinging from a redwood tree using a grappling hook. She lets go of it and flies right at the rex's thigh, punching it clear in it's left flank just as it tries to stable it's footing. There's a loud boom of impact as the rex roars and the entire rex shifts right...directly on top of me! I quickly scramble to my feet and bolt as the massive theropod predator crashes down into the earth and begins flailing it's legs and tail, struggling to get up. Weiss leaps in, going directly for it's left hip. She lands on top of the struggling dinosaur, and with a shout, plunges Silver Needle into it's leg and pulls the trigger. Narcotic begins to flow into the dinosaur as if from a large hypodermic needle. The Rex continues to thrash violently, and I can see Weiss struggling to keep her footing. I fire off another dart from my rifle, and Blake and Yang do likewise. Weiss completely runs out of Narcotic phial, and the beast still thrashes, bucking her off, and attempting to right itself, but failing, collapsing onto the ground again. "Weiss! One more! That should do it!" She nods and reloads phials, before leaping back on the dinosaur. "Stop thrashing and go night night!" She screams as she plunges her sword back into it's leg and once more pulls the trigger. At first, nothing happens. However, just as she runs out, the entire dinosaur begins to slowly cease movement. It finally stops thrashing and lets out a long groan before staring off into oblivion. "Is it out?" I ask. Weiss removes her sword and looks at the Rex...it doesn't try to get up, but it still breathes easily, it's chest moving. Weiss sighs and nods.

"Yeah, she's out!"

"HELLA!" Yang says excitedly clapping once. "Where's the meat?! Who's got the meat?!"

"Right here." I say, walking up to the fallen rex. Excitedly runs around to the front of the Rex with nervous excitement. She's like a child, even for her usual behavior...almost more than me sometimes. She's grinning ear to ear and stomping in place excitedly. "Come on, come on..." she says low over and over. I put the test meat in the rex's inventory and wait...that should be all we need to do. But it doesn't tame...It still lays there...unconscious. Maybe it takes a moment? We wait nervously- especially Yang...and then...about fifteen seconds later...It quickly rights itself with a roar.

It's ours.

Yang shrieks with excitement like a girlish teenager. I'm very excited too, as are Weiss and Blake, but not as much as Yang. "YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!" Yang says over and over again. That is...until the rex looks directly at her. She freezes as the giant dinosaur looks directly at it's new owner, lowering it's head to get more eye level with it...even if it's tamed, it's still intimidating...The two stare directly at each other...and Yang slowly raises her right hand, holding out her index finger, which she then uses to poke the nose of the rex.

"Boop."

"...Ya booped the rex's snoot, Yang." I say. Yang grins excitedly again. "I did. I freaking did! You bet I did!"

It gives an exhale which causes Yang's hair to fly back and Yang to close her eyes a moment. We all laugh, and Yang re-adjusts her hair. "Yo, no dino-boogers in the hair, please!" Yang says with a laugh. We all bust out laughing and walk over to Yang. She now pets the snout of the Tyrannosaur, who delicately allows her new owner to do so. "So, Yang?" Weiss says. "What's her name?"

Yang smiles. "Rexy." She says. "Sexy Rexy. Well, Just Rexy, but I'll still call her Sexy Rexy."

"Can't argue with that." Blake says, putting a hand on the colossal predator's skull. I smile, and turn to Yang. "Yo, sis?"

"Hm?"

"Ya know how you said you wanted a rex a while back?"

"Yeah?"

I stick out my tongue and close my left eye. "I prepared."

"Wait..." Yang says "Are you saying..."

"I made the saddle about two weeks ago." I say grinning. Weiss crosses her arms. "So that's where all that metal went, hmm?"

"Yep." I say. "and something told me...so I brought it with me."

I'm almost crying Ruby would do that. I laugh happily "Wow...thank you!"

"It's not the armored one," Ruby says, "But It should still work. Ready?"

"Yeah..." I say nervously excited. "I'm ready. Gimme gimme!"

"Alright then..." she says. She walks up to Rexy, opens her inventory, and with a click and drag, Rexy's got her saddle. I smile "Yo...that...looks awesome."

"Not quite..." Blake says, crossing her arms. "It's missing something."

I turn to her. "What? What do you mean?"

"I think there's supposed to be a Yang up there in the driver's saddle..." She says, cutting me an eye. I smile, then grab on to one of the low straps on Rexy, and climb my way up, and settling down into the large seat of the saddle. It almost feels like I'm driving Rexy...and I'm so high up. I take a moment to slowly, with shaking hands, grab the reigns on Rexy. She looks back up at me...and I just sit there in frozen disbelief. I hear a whistle from somebody, and look down. It's Ruby.

"Ey, Yang?"

"Y-yeah?"

She crosses her arms. "Have fun. Just be back before lunch."

I stare at them for a couple seconds, then pull on Rexy's reigns. She gives a normal roar and rushes forwards through the forest. I can hear the others laughing behind me as we dash off. I'm so thrilled I can't even speak...what to do first, what to do first?! I think running around with Rexy though is enough for now...wait...I know what I want. I take Rexy towards Red Peak, and we climb the mountain pathways all the way to the top. I can see a lot of the island from up here...It's absolutely breathtaking. Now I'm really excited. I grin from ear to ear, and pull on Rexy's reigns. She slowly inhales, then gives an absolutely epic roar from the top of the mountain that echos down into the forest and valley. I shriek again in pure excitement and kick my feet in her saddle. I'm getting way too much of a kick out of this, and I freaking love it! Then I hear something...a growl. It's definitely from Rexy, but not her mouth... more from her stomach. She looks over her shoulder back at me, and I slowly gain the most malevolent smile I think I've ever had before. I know exactly what I'm gonna do. For once...in my life, I get to say this, and truly mean it...

 _I'm going to kill_ _ **all the shit.**_


	20. Update for my readers!

Hello everyone!

Yes, im not dead. I'm alive. Just wanted to give you all a heads up on what's been going on.

FIRST OF ALL

I'm currently beginning yet another semester of college. Not also that, but I also have a job, as well as TWO Ark: Survival Evolved mods im working on. For those of you who are reading this on RWBY's Ark, I encourage you to look me up. The mods are called Pyria: Mythos Evolved, and Additional Creatures. I appreciate any feedback on those!

So that's where I stand in life right now, sorry for such the long delays. I've been writing VERY slowly though...it's just, I run several ark servers for my friends now, i've gotten into playing Dark and Light as well...might write a RWBY story based on that, no clue yet. Gonna wait until the game reveals more about itself before I do a selection on that. Also, for those of you who were telling me about Monster Ark: Hunting Evolved...i was actually the mod community manager, so of course I knew about it :P  
Still Garuga123's PR guy. Can attest that he's got good stuff coming VERY soon. He's got a really good crocodile model he's turning into a Deinosuchus that will either be coming out this week or next! MY HYPE IS IMMENSE

Now i've been thinking ahead plenty and plotting out plots for both stories, so, that said.

If You're reading this on RWBY's ARK,  
WASSUP FAM?!  
I honestly didnt expect this story to get this big of a following and this much hype. I appreciate my followers on this work immensely, thank you!  
Been working hard on RWBY's ark. Trust me, the big endgame reveal for ark itself doesnt change anything. I've been working hard to incorporate everything I can to the story correctly. I've tweaked a few things, but nothing drastic has changed. There's been a lot of thought gone into this...so I really mean it when I say that things are only going to get better...and worse...for team RWBY. If you can bare just a little longer with me, I'll be able to do at least one chapter this week. HYPE TRAIN ENGAGE!

For those reading this on Losing Hope  
I know that as of current, as stated in my disclaimer, there isnt any Monster Hunter yet. People have accused me of clickbait and being a lying scam...but trust me. If I jumped RIGHT into the Monster Hunter it wouldnt make any sense. There's a DEEP backstory to the Hope series, and in order to explain the Monster Hunter bit, we need to go to before that happened. Don't worry. There's only about...eh...5-6 chapters before we FINALLY hit Monster Hunter. And trust me, when we do, it'll be there to STAY. Tolerate the lack of MH just a tad longer, and it'll pay off. Trust me. Tiggy will be sad if you leave before he makes his debut. Dont make Tiggy sad. Sad Tiggy is not good Tiggy ;-;  
Going to try and hurry up on this while still keeping a professional writing style and good plot. As of current it just feels like i'm screwing you over...and I agree, I'm sorry. Its just life gets in the way first...and im sorry.  
For those of you who have been patiently waiting for me to get to the MH bit, or are at least still interested in the story due to what's been presented so far, I thank you. In all honesty I take Losing Hope more seriously than I do RWBY's ARK, and I pride myself more in this story too. There has been MUCH more planning gone into this one, and much more heart. I thank you for your interest, and I hope I will not disappoint.

Well, that wraps this up. Going to keep writing, hopefully, i'll be able to push out one chapter for each story this week, and hopefully I can get on a "chapter a week" schedule...can't guarantee anything though, but i'll do what I can.

Peace folks!

-Shad


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